Emilio Naranjo, the giant of Rio Arriba County politics for several decades in the 20th century, died Thursday at his son's home in Albuquerque. He was 92.

Naranjo, who reigned from the early 1950s through the mid-1990s, was hospitalized last month after a fall. He was being cared for by his youngest son, Raul Naranjo, said his daughter Jeanette Naranjo Salazar. Family members said he died in his sleep.

Naranjo frequently was called "the last patrón," though in an interview in the 1980s, he eschewed that term.

Governors past and present paid tribute to Naranjo — a former state senator, county sheriff and chairman of the Rio Arriba Democratic Party — upon learning the news of his passing.

"This marks the end of a unique political era in Northern New Mexico," Gov. Bill Richardson said in a statement. "My condolences go out to Mr. Naranjo's family."

"Emilio Naranjo was one of the nicest people I've known," former Gov. Bruce King said in a telephone interview from his home in Stanley. "He was honest and fair to deal with. In the last few years he couldn't hear very well and he couldn't talk on the phone. And I haven't been able to get up to Española, so I haven't seen him in a long time. He'll be greatly missed in Rio Arriba County and all of New Mexico."

Former Gov. Toney Anaya also expressed sadness. "I had my own run-ins with Emilio, but it always was on a professional level. On a personal level, we got along very well. He might not have supported me in the primaries when I ran, but in the general elections he always was a true blue Democrat."

Anaya, a former attorney general, said in the 1970s "our paths would cross" during his investigations of some Rio Arriba cases. "I know he didn't always appreciate some of those investigations," Anaya said. "But, as often happens, after some battles subside, old friendships are renewed."

Naranjo considered President John F. Kennedy a hero. In January, when Sen. Edward Kennedy was in town campaigning for Barack Obama, a reporter mentioned that Naranjo was supporting Clinton for president, Kennedy grinned. "In 1960, when I was here campaigning for my brother, Emilio was backing Lyndon Johnson. But I've been back time and time again, and Emilio always treats me well," he said.

Fabian Chavez, former state Senate majority leader, said in a recent interview, "He's the last of the true patróns. He was not unlike the big bosses you had in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. Anyone running for office had to deal with him."

Chavez said that while Naranjo unquestionably controlled the politics of Rio Arriba County, his influence on other races might have been exaggerated. "When I ran for Congress in 1964, he supported Johnny Walker, but I won Rio Arriba County. When I ran for governor (in 1968) he supported Bruce King in the primary, but I won (Rio Arriba)."

"He was a very generous person," Chavez said. "Poor people got help from him for funerals and other expenses year-round, not just during elections."

Rep. Nick Salazar, D-Ohkay Owingeh, said in a recent interview, "I'm one of the last Mohicans. I started out with Emilio. He made me go to every house in Rio Arriba. It took me a month and a half." Salazar first ran for county commissioner in 1964 on Naranjo's slate, before serving 36 years in House. "He always had a problem with hearing, but he always was a gentleman," Salazar said.

"He gave his life for Rio Arriba County," daughter Jeanette said. "He was very loved by the people."

After leaving the Senate, Naranjo, once renowned for holding huge barbecues for Democratic candidates, wasn't seen much at political events. But, family members said, his interest in politics remained.

Last month, during his hospitalization at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe, one of his sons, Benny Naranjo, visited him in the hospital wearing his "I Voted" sticker on his tie.

"He saw that sticker and said, 'Way to go,' " the younger Naranjo told a reporter that night.

The former chairman made news late last year for putting a large Hillary Clinton sign in the yard of his Española home. "He strongly supported Hillary Clinton," Salazar said Thursday. "But when she dropped out of the race, he became a strong supporter of Barack Obama."

Emilio Naranjo was born to Alejandrino Naranjo and Delfinia Vigil on April 21, 1916, in the village of Guachupangue, near Santa Clara Pueblo. His ancestor, José Naranjo, settled in the area in the late 1600s.

While attending El Rito's Normal School in the 1930s, Emilio Naranjo met his first wife, Mary Rodriguez, who was from Coyote. The couple had nine children and divorced in 1962. He later married Mary Polaco, with whom he had seven children. That marriage also ended in divorce.

Naranjo worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for a brief time, then went on to become the director of the state Motor Vehicle Division. He also worked as an insurance salesman before he became a political leader.

In 1952, Naranjo was elected chairman of the Democratic Party of Rio Arriba County. The county had been overwhelmingly Republican since the Civil War. This would change — dramatically — under Naranjo. Except for a brief period between 1965 and 1968, when he got a job as a federal marshal in Albuquerque, he held the position until 1995.

In addition to being party chairman, Naranjo held several elected and appointed posts through the years. In 1958, he was elected Rio Arriba County sheriff, a position he won again in 1970.

In 1977, he was appointed state senator after Sen. Matias Chacon died of a heart attack during a legislative session.

Naranjo was elected to the Senate seat in 1978 — the same year he was appointed Rio Arriba County manager.

In that year, Naranjo was indicted for perjury in a case stemming from his stint as sheriff. He was accused of planting marijuana in the car of one of his political enemies, Moises Morales.

"In my career, I've never seen such an obvious case of evidence being planted on an innocent suspect for purposes of political retaliation," Robert Rothstein, a Santa Fe lawyer who represented Morales, told The New Mexican in 1996. But Naranjo's lawyer, the late Walter Kegel, always maintained that Naranjo was a victim of overzealousness in the Attorney General's Office and that he suffered during his trial from impaired hearing.

Naranjo was convicted in that case, which forced him to resign as senator. However, his conviction was thrown out on appeal in 1980, when he returned to the Senate.

For more than 20 years, until 1989, he owned Emilio's Restaurant on Oñate Street. The booths in the restaurant were designed to resemble a jail, a bank, an Indian tepee and other locations.

In 1994, Naranjo didn't seek re-election as county chairman. In 1996, he lost his Senate seat when Arthur Rodarte beat him in the Democratic primary by 16 votes. Two weeks later, tragedy struck when one of his sons, Gerald Naranjo, 44, was killed in a car accident.

Three years after his defeat, Naranjo was the subject of a "roast" in Española, in which political figures including Richardson, King, then-Rep. Tom Udall, Sen. Jeff Bingaman and former Gov. David Cargo paid him tribute.

That year, Española singer Angel Espinoza recorded an upbeat ode to him in Spanish, El Corrido de Emilio Naranjo.

In addition to his children, Jeanette Naranjo Salazar in a recent interview said her father had 25 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild from his first marriage, plus 12 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild from his second marriage.

Funeral services are pending.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.

TIMELINE: EMILIO NARANJO'S POLITICAL CAREER

1952: At age 36, first elected chairman of the Democratic Party of Rio Arriba County, which had been overwhelmingly Republican since the Civil War. It soon became overwhelmingly Democratic.

1958: Elected county sheriff, his first public office.

1965: Appointed U.S. marshal and moves to Albuquerque. His son, Benny, is appointed sheriff in his place.

1968: Leaves the federal post, returns to Española and opens Emilio's Restaurant on Oñate Street.

1970: Elected again as sheriff.

1977: Appointed to succeed state Sen. Matias Chacon, who died of a heart attack during a legislative session.

1978: Wins his first election to the state Senate and becomes Rio Arriba County manager. He is prosecuted for perjury and eventually is convicted, forcing him to resign as senator.

1979: Starts leasing his property in Española to the county for use as an office annex.

1980: Conviction is reversed on appeal, and Naranjo returns to the state Senate.

1985: Withdraws Rio Arriba from the New Mexico Association of Counties in what is described as a move to keep the county under his control.

1989: Sells Emilio's Restaurant, which becomes Angelina's.

1991: Resigns as county manager.

1994: Declines to run again as county party chairman after 36 years. David Chavez assumes the position with Naranjo's backing.

1996: Ojo Caliente grocer Arthur Rodarte narrowly defeats Naranjo in the party primary. Two weeks later, Naranjo's son, Gerald, 44, one of 16 children from two marriages, is killed in a car accident. Naranjo says he is retiring from politics.

2008: Dies at the age of 92 at son's home in Albuquerque.