# 100-Grand Marshal Mattie O'Reillly Marches Proudly For The St. Patty's Day Parade

Mattie O’Reilly claims to be 87.7 years old; however, the Grand Marshal of King Park’s inaugural is agile and sharp as a tack and appeared years younger when Patch sat down with him at . 

Conversing fluently on various social and world topics, O’Reilly takes on a boyish charm when he talks about his childhood in the once rural Kings Park community.   He reminisces about fishing, playing in the woods; swimming down at Sunken Meadow and trying to hitchhike back home with his pals. 

“No one would pick you up with a wet bathing suit”, says O’Reilly.

O’Reilly has called Kings Park home for over eight decades, he arrived as a small lad around the age of seven to live with his Aunt Mary and Uncle Patty King after his mother died during childbirth.  His eyes light up when he talks about his Aunt Mary and her fine home cooking.    

“Aunt Mary grew her own vegetables, she never bought a cake a pie or a loaf of bread, she made everything herself,” said O’Reilly.  

He attributes his longevity to his Aunt’s home-cooked meals.  He jokes about one local undertaker waiting for him but says he’s not going anywhere. 

“I told McElhone I’m not interesting in dying,” said O’Reilly.

O’Reilly regaled Patch with many stories of his life spent in Kings Park. As a youngster, he got his first job as an apprentice over at the Russ Sevat Barber Shop.  He wasn’t too keen on the work cleaning spittoons but liked the .50 a day he earned. 

Every child in Kings Park attended one school in the R.J.O. building across the street from where he lived.  There were only about fifteen kids in a grade and O’Reilly attended until he was sixteen and went over to the Kings Park Psychiatric Hospital to work as a page (errand boy).    He worked in varying positions at the hospital which he called an amazing institution, whose population peaked at around 9,500 patients.  He knew the hospital in and out and his vast knowledge let to him publishing the monthly hospital paper called The Reporter.  

“We didn’t write about the patients, we wrote about various psychiatric treatments used – maybe praised a doctor.” he said.  “The hospital in general was fascinating – the piggery, the store house, the dairy farm”. 

Over two thousand copies were published every month and O’Reilly would make up the galley and take it over to The Smithtown News to be printed.

O’Reilly joined the military with his boyhood friend Frank Foley and served in WWII in the Pacific.  He professed his sadness of the loss of Kings Park’s own Purple Heart recipient Saturday on a   “It’s just heartbreaking,” he said.

O’Reilly takes pride in his town and its strong military roots and has served the communities’ American Legion faithfully for decades.  He is well known for putting the American flags out on Main Street for all the holidays.

O’Reilly lost his beloved wife Helen Dwyer five years ago – they met and fell in love while working at the psychiatric hospital.  His son Mattie resides in Smithtown with his wife and their son Mattie who attends Smithtown High School East.  O’Reilly’s grand-daughter Christine is a freshman at Villanova.  

O’Reilly refers to the old Kings Park Irish, like his Aunt and Uncle who were born on the other side, as thoroughbreds and calls those born here, like him, narrowbacks.  Ecstatic about the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day Parade and honored to be its first Grand Marshall, he will be riding in Anna Leteri’s convertible, sporting a black top hot, a sash and a shillelagh.   He says the parade is shaping up to be a huge event with many pipe bands.

“If only I could bring the old-timers back to see this for a day,” said O’Reilly.  Then he laughs.  “I guess that perhaps now I am an old-timer but mentally I still feel like a kid,” he said.