Thomas Arthur Reilly

Thomas Arthur Reilly was born June 2, 1940, in Rahway, New Jersey, to Arthur and Suzanne (Van Liew) Reilly. He departed this world on March 30, 2025, at 84 years of age. Tom attended St. Mary’s Catholic School in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Rahway High School in Rahway, New Jersey, graduating in 1958. After high school, Tom attended Seton Hall University, graduating in 1962. While in college, he was co-captain of the men’s soccer team. His love of soccer would be passed down to his children, who both took up the sport when younger and who now follow it from the sidelines (meaning any proper pub which is airing the match.) After college, Tom joined the United States Marine Corps and was stationed at Camp Lejeune, among other locations. His service was from 1962-1965, where he was OCS Company Honor Man, a member of the 1st Battalion 6th Marine Regiment Infantry, Platoon Commander, Executive Officer, 1st Battalion 6th Marine Regiment (also known as: “Platoon Commander T, Company 1-6, Exec officer C Company 1-6”.) Tom’s service included deployment to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where the United States flew in Marines and Army to support the foreign government in place during Vietnam. His battalion was kept in the Caribbean as a measure to be prepared for unexpected conflicts. He was part of the American expeditionary force. After serving in the Marine Corps, Tom received his Master’s of Arts Degree at Seton Hall University, setting him up to join the teaching profession at Woodbridge High School in Woodbridge, New Jersey, where he taught American History for two years. In September 1964, Tom married his high school sweetheart, Carol Ann Starkowsky, in Rahway, NJ. They were blessed with two children: Tara in 1968, and Brent in 1971. After school teaching, Tom joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a Special Agent in 1970, where he served with honor and distinction until his official retirement in 2000. He was assigned to the Memphis and Nashville offices before arriving at the Washington Field Office in 1971. He then charted a distinguished career path in foreign counterintelligence that included stints at WFO, FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. From his early days on the Soviet Squad conducting foreign counterintelligence operations and espionage investigations, to later instructing FBI personnel and defense contractors in the intelligence space, he left an indelible mark on this community. His direct involvement in landmark investigations and prosecutions for acts of espionage committed during and after the Cold War, including the Pitts and Trofimoff cases, garnered him prestigious counterintelligence awards from the Director of Central Intelligence, the Director of Military Intelligence, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Central Intelligence Agency. Post-retirement, Tom continued his service as an instructor for the Joint Military Counterintelligence Training Academy (JCITA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and at FBI HQ. He never did stop teaching. Tom was a beloved member of the AOOC Club, a service organization dedicated to fellowship and “esprit de corps”. He actively participated in their annual summer conference in Ocean City, Maryland, where he and fellow members would engage in challenging extracurricular activities and team building exercises. His family hopes to carry on that tradition and continue helping “plant the flag” in future summers. He was a proud Irishman, for whom March 17 was a national holiday. He would spend months planning “destination St. Patrick’s Days” for our family, trips which expanded to include family friends and friends of friends. These annual celebrations took place across the country, in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Columbia, Savannah, Tampa, Key West, Mobile, New Orleans, San Antonio, Kansas City, and San Diego. These excursions brought him so much joy and happiness, as did vacations by land and by sea in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and across Europe, and shorter hops to New York City, Charlottesville, and rural Virginia. He loved nothing more than working in his yard, tending to his flower beds and constructing a masterful rock wall with stones he collected from all over the world. We are thrilled that he was able to showcase his craft to friends and family who attended Tom and Carol’s 60th wedding anniversary celebration at their home last fall. Tom is survived by his wife and the love of his life Carol; his brother-in-law Paul Starkowsky of Stafford, Virginia; his daughter Tara and her husband Carl of Austin, Texas; and his son Brent of Springfield, Virginia, and his partner Marci Garrison. He is preceded in death by his parents Arthur and Suzanne Reilly. We love you, Dad. You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Tributes

Thomas Arthur Reilly

March 30, 2025