Services Are Today for Thomas Riley

Funeral services will be today for former Orange County Supervisor Thomas H. Riley, who died from a heart attack last week at the age of 85.

Sunday night, several dozen friends and well-wishers were at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Newport Beach, to attend a viewing and rosary for the former supervisor, who served for 20 years before retiring in 1994.

The coffin of the former Marine brigadier general was draped with an American flag and wheeled into the church’s foyer.

Riley’s widow, Emma Jane, appeared somber as she followed the coffin down the aisle.

The church’s pastor, Msgr. Bill McLaughlin, referred to Riley’s poor health during the past few years, saying, “We all knew that this night would come, but we never expected it to come so quickly.”

McLaughlin described Riley as an extraordinary politician.

“He didn’t live for popularity among the people,” the pastor said. “He lived to do what was right.”

Riley, a former base commander at Camp Pendleton and Inspector General of the Corps, came to politics late in life but took to it with a passion.

He represented Orange County’s fifth supervisorial district, which he always called the “Fabulous Fifth,” a wide swath of land that stretches from Newport Beach to San Clemente.

Services today will be at 11 a.m. at the church at 2046 Mar Vista Drive.

Riley will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.