Adair Kathleen O’Reilly

ARUNDEL – Adair Kathleen O’Reilly, 72, of Arundel, died peacefully with family on Nov. 30, 2024, at Mercy Hospital in Portland.

Adair was born on May 10, 1952, in Concord, NH, to Barbara (Dane) and John O’Reilly, Sr. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and was inducted into the National Honor Society.

After graduating, Adair became involved in New Hampshire Politics, running a campaign for a New Hamposhire State Representative. She then moved to Maine to work as a planner in the Portland City Planning Office. She continued her political work as a delegate for Ted Kennedy and Jesse Jackson at National Conventions.

She then began working as an ad manager for Maine Audubon in creating a new Habitat magazine. She loved birdwatching and working for a new magazine supporting environmental stewardship. Adair traveled extensively to Kenya, Europe, the US, and Canada. She wrote travel articles found in the columns of the Chicago Tribune and other publications. She loved safaris, but her passion was hiking, skiing, sailing, and canoeing in the Woods of Maine and E. Canada, her favorites being Attean Lake, Lubec, and Campobello. She became a registered recreational Maine guide and enjoyed trips through the woods, lakes, and seas with her beloved Audubon groups. She also worked for the Portland Holiday Inn as a National Sales Manager, soliciting trade association meetings and conventions at their hotel in Portland.

In the late 2000s, while caring for her family, she turned to helping a large family of Rwandan immigrants enter the US through her church. She organized the legal services and raised the money to bring an Anglican minister, his wife, and seven children through immigration court when it took years to obtain citizenship.

In recent years, Adair provided her marketing services, working for Biasi & QHT to launch sustainable heating products in the US and Canada while working remotely at her unique dam house on the Kennebunk River. Though we are sad, Adair has passed her insatiable spirit and passion for helping the communities, and she will continue to be an example to those who want to make the world a better place.

Adair is survived by her husband, James Quincy. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother, and sisters.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, at St. Anthony Franciscan Monastery in Kennebunk. Burial will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, at St. Joseph Cemetery in Bedford, NH.

In lieu of flowers,

memorial donations may be made to:

Northern Light Mercy Hospital