BERNARD REILLY PALM BAY Bernard Frank Reilly was born May 25, 1931 in Anaconda, Montana, the oldest son of Bernard Joseph Reilly and Grace Harrison. He departed this life on Friday, September 21, 2007 at the age of 76. His father was a U.S. Deputy Marshall and his mother taught ballroom dancing. Frank played football in high school and was a golden gloves boxer. At the age of 16, he once boxed for the championship of the state of Montana. After high school he joined the Montana National Guard and trained as an airplane mechanic. He be came interested in flying and fell in love with it. In 1951 he married Alma R. Tomlinson, a marriage which lasted 21 years and produced three sons and a daughter. He joined the U.S. Air Force and be came an officer. He was in the Strategic Air Com mand (SAC) and was a navigator/ bombadier on the B47 Stratofor tress bomber plane. After the Air Force Frank joined the National Guard again, becoming a safety specialist, and with his growing family, moved to Colorado and then Iowa. In his spare time Frank obtained a Bachelor of Arts De gree from Duke University and a Masters Degree from FIT (Flori da Institute of Technology). In 1966 he went to work at Cape Kennedy for Pan Ameri can in pad safety. He also worked for Boeing and was there for the entire Apollo pro gram. Eventually he would also work as Safety Manager for the Homestead Air Force Base and Canaveral Air Station; he also worked for the Department of Energy and EG&G, and at the Tennessee Valley Authority. He married again, for 26 years to Sandra Coe. In a long period from the late 80s until 2006 he lived in Nevada with his wife Sandy, where he retired from EG&G and the Air Force Reserve. He had achieved the rank of Major. Frank received numerous awards during his career for proficiency and excellence, and he instilled those values in his children by example. Frank loved to hunt and fish in his youth and he continued to enjoy fishing and boating throughout his life. Most of all, he loved his family and his country and was a man of strong faith. He was preceded in death by his second wife, Sandy Reilly and his stepson, Gary Coe. He is survived by his four children, Terry, Bruce, Shaula and Joe; two younger brothers, Richard and Brian, seven grandchildren, Shaun, David, and Samuel Reilly, Cassidy, Lindsey and Jonathan Mascaro and Seva Reilly; and three step- grandchildren and their families. Visitation will be held on Monday, September 24th, 6 - 8 p.m. at Florida Memorial Funeral Home, 5950 S. US Hwy 1, Rockledge. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. at St. Josephs Cath olic Church, 5330 Babcock St. NE, Palm Bay. The burial cere mony will follow immediately after at Florida Memorial Funer al Home and Cemetary. All flowers should be sent to Florida Memorial Funeral Home.

Published in FLORIDA TODAY on Sept. 23, 2007