Dr. Philip Riley passed away yesterday at the age of 97. Dr. Riley was well-known at Clark Lake, a resident since 1936. An accomplished and busy surgeon at both Mercy and Foote Hospitals in Jackson, Dr. Riley spent summers at Clark Lake as a youth, and built his own residence in 1962, where he and wife Joane spent summers with their five children: Angie Francois, Camille Riley, Philip Riley III, Matt Riley, and Lisa Riley.
The family invites all to celebrate Dr. Riley’s life on Saturday, November 5th at St. Rita’s Catholic Church. Visitation will begin at 10 am, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 11.
Dr. Riley was known and loved by many, as he lived and made nearly 90 years of Clark Lake history. Later, on this website, a tribute to Dr. Riley will tell his story.
Dr. Philip Riley,Jr was a great general,thoracic and Vascular surgeon. He was practicing cutting edge surgery with patients oriented and dedicated practice.
He provided his home phone to all patients so he can be reached on off hours for emergency situations.
He was technically great surgeon with minimal complication and great outcomes .
He was very collegiate ,calm and very friendly to his colleagues and medical staff and operating room nurses and floor nurses and staff.
He was loved and respected by patients, doctors, staff and hospital administrators.
He was a great friend and mentor to me.
We will miss him tremendously.
Our sincere condolences to Family and prayers for family’s comforts.
Prayers for his soul to Rest In Peace.
Always enjoyed seeing your Father out in his front yard gardening late in life. An inspiring soul. A tribute to perseverance. A lesson to us all.
It is so sad to lose a good friend, colleague, mentor and good surgeon who served the community so well. We just celebrated his 97 th birthday with dinner and he had brain of 60 year old.
He was very courageous surgeon and handled all situations very calmly and handled efficiently and effectively.
Even though I was 20 years junior he always greeted me , and others as well, with his smile.
I will cherish his memory for rest of my life!
My family and i join the family in prayers for Peace of the soul and bereaving loved ones.
Good Bye my friend. You will be missed but not forgotten
Phil was a true gem. Played golf and tennis with him and Joanne, and enjoyed many evenings together. When Phil hit the ball he always ended up on his toes.
He had a great run and was always smiling and friendly………and he took a bunch of my money. He had that great big Buick station wagon to haul all his stuff to Grenelefe.
Anyway…..a lovely couple of folks……….
Thank you for the kind remembrances. It’s nice knowing we won’t be alone in missing him. Gardening and golf both were passions in retirement, and served him well.
I knew Dr. Riley for 50 years. He was always an inspiration and pleasant to be around . Even though I never played golf with him, I skied with him and admired how he was always ready to play. Work Life Balance.
I loved seeing him working in his yard every day. He and Joanne raised successful children, and they and their kids will miss him. We will all miss him.
He was such an icon for Clark Lake. We can not replace him, but we can emulate him
To the Riley family – my heartfelt condolences, your dad will certainly be missed! I hope you find comfort in the fact that he lived a full life worth celebrating! 97 years – what an accomplishment! He joins his wife in his heavenly home – where I am certain there will be glazed donuts!
Being born and raised in Jackson, I had heard what a great surgeon Dr. Riley was years before I actually met him. It wasn’t until after I became a physician and moved back to this community in 1986, that I was able to get to know Dr. Riley well and found out that he was indeed a great surgeon and he became a good friend over many years. There are thousands in this community who benefited from knowing him, not just as a surgeon but also as good person and I, my wife Natalie, and the entire Jackson community will miss him deeply. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Phil was a great man, a friend and surgeon who touched many lives and was a great supporter of the Jackson community. He will be missed.
I was lucky to have had the pleasure of not only knowing Dr. Riley for my whole life. Our family’s were close friends. We spent winters snow skiing at Boyne Mountain, going west to ski. Summers playing on Clarklake. I adore and love the whole Riley family.
I will miss his smile. I will always have my memories of so many fun trips our familys spent together.
In later years riding on bikes, horses, or running around the lake. Dr. Riley would always wave and say hi Bentley girls!
I cannot even put in words the impact he had on me.
He was truly an amazing, kind, loving, gifted father, husband, surgeon and friend.
I will miss him almost as much as I miss my dad. RIP Dr Riley💔