Honors Mount as Riley Nears End of Service on County Board : Remembrance: Veteran official’s honesty, industry and unfailing public spiritedness have created legions of admirers.

Much has been written and said about the long, distinguished career of Gen. Thomas F. Riley, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. His office is filled with awards and remembrances and now, in the final few months of his fifth term, his many friends have scheduled one recognition event after another to pay their respects to him.

Just last month, at an 82nd birthday reception in his office, a steady parade of secretaries and administrators, community leaders and elected officials, former employees and just plain admirers stopped by to wish him well. The general, along with Emma Jane, his wife of nearly 56 years, greeted each with a genuine sense of appreciation.

Many of us were filled with a sense of nostalgia. So many memories that impacted our own individual lives. It seemed impossible to think of the county and the Fabulous 5th District, as the General fondly calls it, without his leadership.

I first met Gen. Riley shortly after I came to Orange County in 1978 to head up the Albert Sitton Home, the emergency shelter care facility serving abused and neglected children. Even then, I remember how impressed I was with this bigger-than-life man with his head of white hair, and square jaw of a retired Marine Corps general. Appointed by Gov. Ronald Reagan to the Board of Supervisors four years earlier, General Riley was serving as chairman of the board during a time of unprecedented crisis for Orange County’s victimized children.

Child abuse was becoming a national issue and increased numbers of abused and neglected children were in need of protective care; yet Albert Sitton Home was outmoded and overcrowded. With public funding reduced by the passage of Proposition 13, an innovative public-private partnership was needed to fill the gap.

Gen. Riley took the lead. He encouraged the development of an auxiliary for Albert Sitton Home. Out of this grew a tremendous volunteer effort that benefited thousands of children over the years. Next, in 1980, the Board of Supervisors called together community leaders to challenge them to raise funds to construct a new emergency shelter to replace Sitton. Once again, Gen. Riley served as a catalyst, bringing divergent interests together, overcoming obstacles and making the vision of what was to be Orangewood Children’s Home a reality.

Over the next five years, more than $8 million was raised. The effort was handed over to the private sector, with another general, William Lyon, taking the lead along with Kathryn G. Thompson and many others who became a powerful voice for children who could not easily speak for themselves. Yet through it all, Gen. Riley hovered like a concerned parent, quick to come to the rescue when the effort could have been derailed.

Over 15 years in my role as director of Albert Sitton Home and then Orangewood Children’s Home, and later as director of the Orangewood Children’s Foundation, I learned that there was a consistent theme in how Gen. Riley is perceived.

He is a man of his word. He has a strong sense of right and wrong. He believes in his duty to God, his country and his fellow man. He is a gentleman, thoughtful of others and a champion of those who are less fortunate. He sets a pace of a man half his age. He is the first at work in the morning and can always be counted on to start a meeting on time. County staff love him. People are loyal to him and he returns their loyalty. While he has an occasional display of temper he is quick to forgive.

Now I find myself on the Board of Supervisors, serving with him. Yet for some reason I really don’t feel like a peer because his stature sets him apart. He is the best of the best, a role model. Like a father or kindly grandfather, he imparts wisdom. I’m going to miss his leadership on the Board of Supervisors. Yet, I hope that in retirement Gen. Riley will have a special ambassador status, for I know of no one who could serve the county any better, even as a volunteer.

Even better, he should be our supervisor emeritus, for I doubt that there will ever be anyone like him again.