Former Ward 1 Alderman Charles “Mickey” O’Reilly died this week.
After serving close to a decade on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, O’Reilly joined the Public Service Commission Board of Commissioners, which he faithfully served until his death Tuesday afternoon.
From local politics to community service, O’Reilly will be remembered for his dedication to Ward 1 and the city as a whole.
“He was a good man who cared about Yazoo City,” said Alderman Aubry Brent Jr., who served on the city council with O’Reilly and later appointed him to the PSC board.
O’Reilly was a Yazoo City native who was raised in the Brickyard community, a neighborhood he would later represent as city alderman. After graduating from St. Francis in 1970, he remained in his hometown where he worked and raised his family.
“He rode horses all the time,” Brent recalls. “He was either riding horses or driving trucks.”
“What impressed me about him was his complexion and nice hair,” Brent said, with a smile. “I was envious of what a good-looking man he was. But it never went to his head. He was a common, good man.”
O’Reilly was elected to his Ward 1 post on the city council in 2006.
“Mickey was the calming force on that board,” Brent said. “He didn’t say much, but when he did say something, we listened.”
Brent said O’Reilly was an expert when it came to city vehicles and equipment maintenance.
“When it came to vehicles and equipment, I went with O’Reilly,” Brent said. “I never questioned him because he knew what he was talking about.”
Brent said he remembers his time with O’Reilly on the city council as being a part of what he called the “three amigos.”
“When it was Mickey, Alderman James Magee and me…we were the three amigos,” he said, with a smile.
But Brent said O’Reilly’s heart was in Ward 1, an area he always looked out for while serving on the city board.
“He was always concerned about Ward 1,” Brent said. “He was instrumental in getting a grant to construct houses on Pierce Street. He wanted to knock down eyesore properties, but people on Brickyard liked their old houses. He just wanted to keep them happy.”
Brent said O’Reilly also cared about the elderly and children within his community. But it was O’Reilly’s courage that impressed Brent as well.
“He lost his wife, his son and his parents back to back,” Brent said. “I admired his courage in dealing with that. And he had several health issues, but he fought on. I can remember when he had to get his leg amputated, and we had to drive to the Coast for our municipal league meeting. He beat me driving there.”
Brent said O’Reilly saw both the best and the worst when it came to local politics. But he always had the people of his community on his mind.
“He was always concerned about what was best for Yazoo City,” Brent said.
