Riley Is Recuperating From Pneumonia

Former Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, who had back and neck surgery recently, was recovering Friday after being rushed to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian where he was admitted for pneumonia, his wife said.

Riley, 83, was admitted late Wednesday after he complained of pain in his chest while in a Newport Beach rehabilitation center, Emma Jane Riley said Friday.

The former supervisor, who cannot walk and has not returned home since he entered the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in late October, was at the center receiving therapy to strengthen his leg and back muscles.

On Friday, Riley, a former Marine brigadier general who once commanded Camp Pendleton, spent the day talking to doctors, family members and friends, and watching television in his hospital room.

“I can’t give you a medical report except to say he is resting comfortably,” his wife said. “He is recovering, that’s about the best we can say.”

Hoag Hospital spokeswoman Maureen Mazzatenta said she could not discuss Riley’s condition because his family has requested that such details remain private.

Emma Jane Riley said she is “quite concerned” about her husband’s recovery because of his age and ailments.

“I have to be concerned because of all that is wrong with him,” she said. “He just doesn’t have the recuperative powers he used to have.”

In 1991, Riley underwent quadruple-bypass heart surgery. In December 1993, he suffered a painful foot infection that required a five-day hospital stay. His diabetes requires close monitoring and over the years he has been troubled with asthma and emphysema.

Riley was receiving antibiotics intravenously, his wife said, adding that doctors have told her they would like to keep him in the hospital for at least a week.

The Newport Beach resident retired in December 1994, after 20 years on the Board of Supervisors. Before the surgery, Riley was suffering leg pain and needed a wheelchair to move around, his wife said.

Surgeons at the Mayo Clinic said Riley was in severe pain caused by pressure on his spine, similar to an ailment that forced him into back surgery last year.

Former County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider, who has been visiting Riley at the rehabilitation center on a weekly basis, said that when he talked to the former supervisor at Hoag on Friday, “he sounded great.”

Riley, or “the general,” as he was affectionately known at the Hall of Administration, has been in therapy for his upper and lower body and has been regaining his strength visibly “week by week,” Schneider said.

“The general is just amazing in terms of his stamina,” Schneider said. “He’s one tough Marine. He’s an inspiration.”