Reilly, Deborah (Debbie) Elaine. Age 74, of Chapel Hill, NC, passed away on Friday, July 21, 2023 after a battle with liver cancer. She was surrounded by loved ones and had friends from the Common Woman Chorus sing her favorite songs before passing.

Deborah was the spouse of Marilyn (Marty) K. McClelland and former spouse of Paul Michael Reilly. She was the daughter of the late Leo J. McAuliffe and Roberta E. Lawson and step daughter of the late Edward S. Lawson. She is the beloved mother of Paul Matthew Reilly (Cathy) of Massachusetts, Jason David Reilly (Lee Anne) of North Carolina, and Thomas Patrick Reilly (Patrice) of Vermont and survived by 8 grandchildren.

Debbie was born on December 5th, 1948. She attended Foxboro High School, class of 1966, and was an extraordinary athlete, lettering in basketball, softball, and field hockey. She graduated with an undergraduate degree in Nursing from Lasell College and a BS in Psychology from Bridgewater State Teacher's College in 1970. She earned a MS in Public Administration from UNC Chapel Hill in 1990.

Debbie started her career as a medical/surgical nurse at the New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, MA. After starting her family, she transferred those skills to a local community hospital to help detox medically fragile clients. Over the years she has worked a detox nurse, a nurse therapist for mental health and substance abuse clients, a multi-county Area Mental Health Program manager, a State Program Administrator and as a consultant for the NC Division of MH/DD/SAS services. The last 15 years of Debbie's career, she worked for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts as a Planner, a Field Operations Manager, and as the Administrator of the NC Drug Treatment Court Program.

Debbie's interests included world travel, golf, reading, birding, hiking, pickle ball, kayaking, UNC women’s soccer, UNC basketball, and of course anything with the grandchildren. She also enjoyed music, gardening, furniture refinishing, playing games with friends, movies, yoga and making stained glass panels. Some of the notable destinations that Debbie and Marty traveled to include the Galapagos, China, Alaska, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Belize, and Spain.

Debbie played golf with the Occoneechee Women’s League and the Umstead Pines Women’s league. An ambitious dream of hers was to play golf in all 50 states. She was an active member of the Common Woman Chorus for 26 years which was a source of lasting friendships and joy. She was a member of the Chapel Hill Bird Club, New Hope Audubon, the steering committee for the Carol Woods Bird Club, and the Croquet interest group. She was a life long learner, becoming a certified beekeeper two months before her passing and joining the the Carol Woods Butterflies, Bees, and Bats committee.

Private burial at Bluestem Cemetery on Friday morning, July 28th.  A Celebration of Life event and reception will be held on October 7th at 2pm at Carol Woods in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

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