 In December 1999, his wife died suddenly of liver failure.Rosa Delia Valenzuela had been taking the doctor-prescribed drug Rezulin that a few months later was withdrawn from the market when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded that Rezulin use had "possibly or probably" resulted in 90 liver failures, including 63 deaths and seven nonfatal organ transplants.In 2008, Valenzuela was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.