Obituary

Former President Ronald Reagan dies at 93

 

Appreciation

Reagan had 'love affair with America'

 

On the Web:

Read more about Reagan in The Des Moines Register's Famous Iowans series.

 

 

 

Ronald Reagan, right, Neil Reagan, and parents Jack and Nelle Reagan. (Reagan Library photo)

1911-1933

Early years

Feb. 6: Ronald Wilson Reagan born in Tampico, Ill., to John and Nelle Reagan.

1926: As a high schooler working summers as a lifeguard at Lowell Park in Dixon, Ill., he is credited with saving 77 lives over seven summers.

1928: Graduates from high school in Dixon, Ill., where he was student body president and a football, basketball and track athlete.

1932: Graduates from Eureka College, (Eureka, Ill.) where he majored in economics. Gets a job as a weekend sportscaster at a radio station in Davenport, Iowa. Casts first presidential vote (for Franklin Delano Roosevelt).

1933: Transfers to an NBC station in Des Moines, making regular trips to California to cover the Chicago Cubs in spring training through 1937.

 

 

 

Reagan during his days as a sportscaster. (The Des Moines Register)

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