John F. Reilly Jr., volunteer and insurance executive, 77

But according to his family, friends, and business associates, his behind-the-scenes style of leadership and desire to see things through were more important than formal recognition.

“Jack did a lot of the heavy lifting not because he wanted the titles but because of his devotion to community service,’’ said Herman Laturnau, who succeeded Mr. Reilly as president and chief executive two years ago at the agency. “He was hard-working, a gentleman, and an extremely talented individual. People I’ve met over the years said what a pleasure it was to serve with him.’’

Mr. Reilly, a quarterback on championship Lowell High School football teams in 1948 and 1949 that were invited to postseason games in Mississippi and Florida and a low-handicap golfer who won the men’s championship in 1963 at Vesper Country Club in Tyngsborough, died Sunday of cancer at D’Youville Senior Care Center in Lowell. The lifelong Lowell resident was 77.

“Dad didn’t seek the limelight,’’ said Mr. Reilly’s son, John of Andover. “He was very dedicated to Lowell, and he did an awful lot for the city. Despite all the time he spent with various organizations and committees, he always found time to watch his children and grandchildren at their sporting events, and he passed on his passion for sports to all of us.

“He was also extremely loyal to his friends, and he had a great sense of humor. If he needled you, then you knew he liked you. He was a great competitor, but always gracious, win or lose.’’

From 1977 to 1980, Mr. Reilly was an executive committee member of the Massachusetts Golf Association. Dick Haskell, former executive director, remembered him as “very attentive and a delight to work with.

“He came to us from a very important club as far as the [association] was concerned, and he represented Vesper very well,’’ Haskell said. “He was accepted very quickly and very easily and was well liked.’’

Mr. Reilly, a former member of the board at Vesper, also was a member at Cummaquid Golf Club in Yarmouth Port and the Kittansett Club in Marion.

“He loved Cape Cod and had three houses there over the past 41 years; he built the last one for his family on Bass River when he was 72,’’ his son said. “He also bought a farmhouse that dated back to the 1800s on Andover Street in Lowell, renovated it, and lived there since 1962.’’

Mr. Reilly helped Lowell defeat archrival Lawrence High, 55-0, at Lowell Memorial Stadium on Thanksgiving in 1949 before 16,000 fans. He played football at Dartmouth College and graduated in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

A teammate and good friend was the late David T. McLaughlin, a record-setting wide receiver who was Dartmouth’s president from 1981 to 1987.

After graduation, Mr. Reilly served in the US Army for two years in Puerto Rico.

Following his discharge, in 1956, he joined Fred C. Church as a salesman. Under his leadership as president and chief executive from 1980 to 2007, the company grew into one of the largest privately owned insurance agencies in New England.

“Jack’s name was synonymous with the agency,’’ Laturnau said.

Mr. Reilly’s sons work at the agency, John as senior vice president and Michael of Andover as executive vice president. His son-in-law, Peter Quinlan of Andover, also is a senior vice president.

Mr. Reilly did a lot more than run an insurance company: He was a director of the Greater Lowell United Fund and director and vice chairman of the Merrimack Valley chapter of the American Automobile Association. He also was a director of Colonial Gas Co. in Lowell and Massachusetts Electric Co. in Westborough, director of Family Bank in Haverhill, and was a trustee and member of the board of investment at Central Savings Bank in Lowell.

He also served as secretary and director of Lowell Revitalization Corp., was cofounder and director of The Friends of Lowell High School, chairman at Saints Medical Center in Lowell, and chairman of the board of trustees of Lowell Memorial Auditorium.

Mr. Reilly’s influence resulted in many honors, including the Boys Club of America Bronze Keystone Award, the Demoulas Philanthropy Award, and the Elkin and Donna McCallum Red Cross Humanitarian Award.

In addition to his two sons, Mr. Reilly leaves his wife of 54 years Elaine (Ganem) of Lowell; two daughters, Patricia Daniel of Los Alamitos, Calif., and Kathryn Bolduc of Falmouth, Maine; three brothers: Philip of Osterville, Thomas of Wayland, and David of Peterborough, N.H.; a half sister, Carol McGrath of Chelmsford; and 19 grandchildren. Two daughters, Susan Szum of Walpole and Mary Jo Quinlan of Andover, died of cancer this year.

A Mass of Christian burial will be said today at 11 a.m. in Immaculate Conception Church in Lowell. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Tewksbury.