Connor William Reilly, 21, passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 9, 2023, surrounded by his family and many friends. Connor was born in Framingham on March 4th –and march forth he did throughout his short but inspirational life. The youngest of three boys, Connor was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy type 1, at one month of age. SMA is a disease not unlike ALS and at the time of his diagnosis there were no treatment options.

Despite a prognosis of only eight months, Connor's parents found a protocol that was being used by a number of other SMA families. The protocol proved to keep his lungs healthy and hope for a longer survival. With this gift of life, Connor lived every moment to the fullest. Connor had an insatiable appetite for learning. This manifested itself in his education in both the Norfolk Public Schools as well as King Philip Regional High School where he proudly graduated to a rousing standing ovation spontaneously given to him by his classmates and all who attended that day. A lifelong learner he continued his education in a post high school program. Even in his time of leisure Connor kept learning in the spotlight; Like watching instructional TV such as recipes on the food network or plumbing and carpentry tips on This Old House. Even after a full day at school, he enjoyed a daily online book club each afternoon with many of his SMA friends.

Using his eye-gaze technology he often operated as many as four different devices at the same time, proving to be the ultimate multi-tasker! Entertainment played a big role in Connor’s life. Movies captured his imagination from an early age. He especially loved animated films, such as The Lion King, Toy Story, and Shrek. It would be an understatement to say Connor loved music. He would wake up singing every morning and trail off to sleep every night with tunes playing in the background. His musical taste also varied greatly. He enjoyed a good opera as much as the theme song to Ratatouille or a concert violinist on reruns of the Lawrence Welk Show. Still, no musical act compared to Connor’s beloved Beatles. Their music soothed him and their messages of peace and love inspired him. He watched their films and constantly played their entire musical catalogue. His room was decorated top to bottom with Beatles items, especially the Yellow Submarine!

Despite his limited mobility, Connor loved to see the world. He loved going on very long walks and enjoyed traveling to other states such as NH, Maine, Florida, CT, PA, RI. He was able to attend many Red Sox and Paw sox games in person with many of his SMA friends.

Connor is survived by his loving parents William and Karen (Cunnally) Reilly; the two best brothers anyone could ask for, Timothy and Owen; many fabulous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Connor was preceded in death by his grandparents, Edward and Mary Reilly and Judith Cunnally.

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In a final act of kindness, Connor gave the ultimate gift to others in need by being an organ donor.