Thomas M. Reidy, 67, a retired Chicago firefighter, died Thursday in his Oak Lawn home. A native of Chicago, Mr. Reidy joined the Fire Department in 1961. For most of his career, he worked at Engine Co. 65 at Archer Avenue and Sacramento Boulevard on the Southwest Side. He retired in 1994 after a distinguished career. While fighting a fire once, he fell two stories from a fire escape. A devoted father, Mr. Reidy rarely brought his work home, said his daughter Therese Ready. “He wasn’t what you would call a fireman’s fireman. He was most interested in his family and our happiness,” Ready said. “He didn’t have a lot of outside interests. He was more interested in providing for his wife and six kids.” Mr. Reidy spent much of his free time during the last three decades with his family at a cabin near Saugany Lake in Wisconsin. Friends and family called him “Mr. Fix-it” because he could repair virtually any vehicle engine problem. Mr. Reidy was a Navy veteran of the Korean War. Other survivors include his wife, Mary Lee; three sons, Kevin, Brian and Daniel; two daughters, Bridget and Beth Ann Amado; a brother; and six grandchildren, John. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Monday in St. Germaine Catholic Church, 4240 W. 98th St., Oak Lawn.
