For the O’Reilly family, going home for Thanksgiving is less Planes, Trains and Automobiles and more a leisurely stroll around the block. And it’s been that way for more than a hundred years. Diana O’Reilly, the current matriarch of the family, can boast five generations living in Bexley – South Bexley, to be more precise.

Her grandmother, Clara Mathew Dolezal, was born in 1910 and went to the Main Street Bexley Elementary School, located where the Capital University seminary was. She graduated from Bexley High School in 1927 when it was in the Montrose Elementary building. Clara married Anthony Dolezal, who’d come to Columbus to go to Ohio State from Cleveland. Together, they owned four homes in Bexley on Francis, Montrose and Roosevelt, settling on Euclaire Ave. where they lived until 2020. There, they had Diana’s mother, Donna and two siblings, Debbie and David, who attended Montrose starting in 1936. Donna married Norman Divine, who graduated from Capital, and later served on Bexley City Council and as president of Capital University Alumni.

Diana and her siblings, Dorinda Mnich, Douglas Divine and Daniel Divine, all went to both Montrose and BHS – Diana graduated in 1971. Back then, Diana played tennis and was in the Latin Club (“Latin got me far, let me tell you!” she jokes.) She remembers spending time with friends, walking over to the Drexel to watch kids’ matinee movies and getting ice cream. Diana married Mike O’Reilly, a Columbus-but-not-Bexley native, and they bought a home on Francis Ave., had three boys – Chad, Colin, and Cameron – who all went to, you guessed it, Montrose and BHS! Chad now lives in Avon with his wife, Melissa, and children, Reese and Raelin. Colin married Alexis, who’ve known each other since preschool at Jeffrey Mansion, and they now live in Costa Rica with their son Brendan. But Cameron couldn’t resist the pull of Bexley. Cameron married Emily, a CSG grad. They met at a party in high school and lived in Grandview until three years ago, when they felt a Bexley education would be best for their sons, Gavin and Charlie. “Now, my son Gavin has started kindergarten at Montrose, making him the fifth generation there, and our son, Charlie, will follow,” Cameron says. “We love the small town atmosphere and the warmth and friendliness in the community. We are proud to call Bexley home.”

Like so many others, Diana’s reason for what kept her family in Bexley for so long is simple: the people. She keeps up with her BHS friends to this day. “We get together all the time,” Diana says. “We play cards and have wine and reminisce.” Cameron also maintains friendships from Montrose: “Jeremy Fox, Tim Lytle, Ryan Britt, and Jason Macay,” he says. “And the great thing is they all live in Bexley!”

The O’Reillys have lots of traditions and commonalities running through the family’s deep roots.

Football and sports

Starting with great-grandpa Norman, who is in the Football Hall of Fame at Capital and who coached many little league teams, football—and athleticism in general—is a common thread through the menfolk in the family. One of Diana’s fondest childhood memories was, “My sister and I used to sit on my garage roof that backed up to the Capital football field and watch the football players.” Later, she was active in the Bexley Boosters and was a football team mom.

“We all did flag and little league football. Football was our sport,” Cameron says. “We were all team captains and played in college. Chad at Miami, Colin at Capital, and myself at Bucknell. Colin and I also ran track and were captains.”

Diana’s brother, uncle Dan Divine, is in the 1000 Point Club in Bexley basketball and was also a football captain.

“A big event for our family,” Cam says, “was when my great-grandfather, Anthony Dolezal, was honored as the oldest living Varsity O holder in 1992. They took him out on the field during the OSU/Arizona football game. The whole family attended.” Anthony had played First Base on the OSU baseball team and was then graduate assistant for Coach St. John.

“A sport we all love is fishing,” Cam says. “My father, Mike O'Reilly, has taught all of us, Gavin included. Everyone says that Dad's fried fish is the best.” So far, at age five, Gavin plays soccer and basketball.

Anthony and Family at the Varisity O event

Gardening

Diana shares that a love of gardening is another generational thread. Not just the women, she proudly says: “And the men!” Diana tends her herb garden, pole beans, raspberries, zinnias and flowers. “My grandpa and my mother gardened like crazy,” she says.

Cooking

Sometimes using those garden crops, basil for pesto and raspberries for jam, home cooked meals is part of the Dolezal/Divine/O’Reilly heritage.

“We all loved to cook and bake. My mom made homemade applesauce,” Diana says, and now she continues the tradition. “It’s made with love, for sure. I have the KitchenAid mixer my grandma gave me when I got married. It has paddle with holes in it to make it a smooth applesauce. That’s what I always gave as a gift for weddings for my own kids. We always have home cooked meals. My grandma could whip up a dinner in 30 minutes and it was always delicious.”

Cameron agrees. “Everyone's favorite is her homemade applesauce. My mom is a great cook and makes the best Christmas cookies.”

“When we do Christmas cookies, they always come over to do cutouts and help ice,” Diana shares. “They love my snowballs with pecans and confectioner sugar – I use a lot of butter! Cam also loves to cook.”

Clara and Donna making Thanksgiving dinner

Family Vacations

Though they have many traditions, including a Halloween campout at Deer Creek, fall weekends in Hocking Hills, the Oglebay Festival of the Lights, many trips to St. Pete Beach or Siesta Key in Florida, and visiting Colin’s family in Costa Rica, they have a vacation tradition dating back to when Diana’s grandparents were dating. Linwood Park in Vermillion, Ohio, used to be a summer church camp that Clara and Anthony went to. Then her parents, Donna and Norman, also went to camp there. Later, the camp turned into rentals and second homes but the family kept going. “It’s the best town on Lake Erie. They have the Festival of Fish, the Woolly Bear festival. It’s a great place, a great family town,” Diana says. Cameron adds, “We like it so much, that my brother Chad and I have purchased homes there.”

Dogs

Can’t forget a legacy of puppy love! Clara and Anthony raised English Bulldogs, while Donna bred Shetland Sheepdogs and Diana has always had one.

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