Former administrator of LV hospital George Riesz dies

George Riesz died in a place he loved.

The former hospital administrator, who died on Aug. 4, spent his last hours at the University Medical Center, a facility he helped create. He was 77.

"He always thought it was the best hospital in town," said Ann Riesz, his wife of 30 years.

George Riesz served as a hospital administrator for the Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital from 1975 to 1983. While serving as an administrator at Southern Nevada Memorial, he worked on a multimillion-dollar expansion that eventually became part of UMC.

"Everything he did was through his own determination," said Ann Riesz, 72.

Jewish Hungarian by birth, Riesz was living with his family in Budapest during World War II.

After losing their home and belongings, the family was forced into a Jewish ghetto that the Nazi's eventually invaded. Riesz's mother had hidden him behind a wardrobe, Ann Riesz said. The boy was able to escape, but his mother was taken to the Danube River where she faced a squadron of machine guns.

Riesz looked for his mother for two weeks before he realized she was dead, Ann Riesz said. His father had died a few years before.

Orphaned at 15, Riesz eventually fled to Canada with Peter Reich, a classmate from before the war whom he reconnected with at a camp in Germany.

With the help of a Zionist organization, the two teens were going to be sent to Israel.

But, being at a camp, waiting to leave didn't sit well with the two restless youth. They wanted to return to the Budapest and the war.

"We were kids," said Reich. "We wanted to have fun. And, we were stupid. We shouldn't have done that."

Reich said the two were arrested on their way back to Germany and ended up in jail in Austria. When jailers put the young boys on a train that would cart them back to the war zone, Riesz and Reich jumped from the moving train and escaped.

The two went to Canada with the Montréal Jewish Federation, which helped children escape the horrors of Eastern Europe, said Reich, who lives in Montréal.

There, the two became close friends.

"We had the same background, the same story," Reich said. "We both had very, very little money."

Once in Canada, Riesz completed a bachelors degree at McGill University and a masters degree in hospital administration from the University of Toronto.

He worked in Canada for 20 years before coming to the United States.

One of his favorite places to work was a hospital in Chapleau, Ontario.

Riesz use to tell his wife stories about the cold town where people welcomed him with open arms. The local priest even offered to be his rabbi while he was there, she said.

Ann Riesz said her husband's decisive, organized nature made him a successful administrator.

"He loved his job," she said. "He'd be over there at the hospital all day and sometimes even at night just talking to people. He cared about everything and wanted things to run smoothly."

After his stint at Southern Nevada Memorial, Riesz left for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The couple returned to Las Vegas in 1989.

After his return, Riesz worked for a few years at South West Medical before retirement.

The last decade of his life was spent playing Scrabble and bridge, traveling, gambling and enjoying Las Vegas' theater, opera and symphony, Ann Riesz said.

On the evening before he was admitted to UMC, he played bridge with friends, won some money in the slot machines and had a nice dinner and glass of wine with his wife.

"He liked to keep busy even though he was sick," she said. "He was just a warm, loving, caring man, a real gentleman."