Thomas F. Kilroe

Thomas Francis Kilroe, 92, passed away peacefully of natural causes in the early morning hours of Saturday, November 20, 2021, at Ellen Memorial Health Care Center in Honesdale, where he had been residing since June 24.

Thomas was preceded in death by his wife Elizabeth Langan Kilroe, his brother John Weir Kilroe, his sister Marjorie Kilroe Rutter, and his faithful companion Sligo, who was the most recently deceased of the Kilroe family’s beloved dogs.

Born in Honesdale in 1929, he was the son of the late Thomas Francis and Marie Weir Kilroe. He graduated from Honesdale High School in 1947 and East Stroudsburg State College in 1952. He entered the Army in the fall of 1952, serving in the Korean War for two years and was a member of the 194th Combat Engineers.

When Thomas returned from serving in the Korean War, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill to attend law school and received his law degree from Dickinson School of Law in 1957.

He had an illustrious law career that spanned more than 50 years. He served as the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the Deputy Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He started his own law practice in Honesdale in 1972 specializing in estates and trusts as well as real estate and corporate law. He represented generations of families over the years. He also served as Wayne County Solicitor and solicitor of several townships in the county.

Thomas was a member of the Pennsylvania and Wayne County Bar Associations, the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Honesdale, the American Legion in Hawley, the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Honesdale, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Honesdale, and was admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

He is survived by his two sons, Thomas, of Peckville, and Matthew and daughter-in-law Deborah of Falls Church, Virginia; a niece, Gigi, of Williamsport; and nieces and nephews on his wife’s side.

His ashes will be interred with his wife’s at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Cemetery.

Mass of the Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. on Friday at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. Arrangements by Hessling Funeral Home, Inc., 428 Main St. Honesdale.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Special thanks to the staff of Ellen Memorial and to the staff working in hospice at the Veterans Administration’s offices in Wayne County.