Supervisor Riley Enters Hospital for Tests

NEWPORT BEACH —  County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley was listed in stable condition Wednesday night at Hoag Hospital after being admitted for a battery of tests because of his weakening health.

“He hasn’t been feeling so good,” said Riley aide Ken Bruner. “He’s been breathing a little bit uneasily lately, and the doctor just wanted to do some tests” and allow Riley to rest.

Riley, 79, had a quadruple heart bypass operation in 1990. He also has suffered for years from diabetes, emphysema and asthma.

Riley’s wife, Emma Jane, said Wednesday evening that the supervisor “is very comfortable and has a lot of very nice people looking after him. He’s being well taken care of.”

In the past few days, she said, “we all noticed he seemed to be getting a bit weak,” with some congestion in his chest.

Doctors on Wednesday began tests on Riley’s heart and insulin levels, Emma Jane Riley said. He was also placed on antibiotics. Hospital officials listed him in stable condition but would not provide further details.

Riley’s staff said he is expected to be released by the end of the week.

While he has maintained an active schedule, Riley’s health has prompted some political observers to predict that he may retire before his term expires in 1994, allowing Gov. Pete Wilson to appoint a successor.

Riley was appointed to the Board of Supervisors in 1974 by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan. One of his greatest honors came in 1990 when the new terminal at John Wayne Airport--a longtime pet project of Riley’s--was named after him.

The move into politics began a second career for Riley after he served in the military for more than three decades. He was base commander at Camp Pendleton and inspector general of the Marine Corps.

Riley is still known to many in the Hall of Administration as “the general.”

Bruner said Riley’s hospitalization was not wholly unexpected and that the supervisor had been considering it for several days. Riley went to work at his office as usual Wednesday morning and then went to a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon, Bruner said.

At the appointment, his doctor suggested that it might be best for the supervisor to check into the hospital for tests, and Riley agreed, Bruner said.