Maureen Reagan

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Maureen Reagan
Robert Urich Maureen Reagan and Jack Hogan.jpg
Maureen Reagan with Robert Urich (left) and Jack Hogan in publicity photo for the television series The Specialists, 1974
Born Maureen Elizabeth Reagan
(1941-01-04)January 4, 1941
Los Angeles, California, United States
Died August 8, 2001(2001-08-08) (aged 60)
Granite Bay, California, United States
Cause of death Melanoma
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) John Filippone
(m. 1961; div. 1962)
David Sills
(m. 1964; div. 1967)
Dennis C. Revell
(m. 1981–2001)
Children 1
Parent(s) Ronald Reagan
(1911–2004)
Jane Wyman
(1917–2007)
Relatives Michael Reagan

Patti Davis
(half-sister)
Ron Reagan
(half-brother)

Maureen Elizabeth Reagan (January 4, 1941 – August 8, 2001) was the first child of Ronald Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman.[2] Her brother was Michael Reagan and notable siblings were Patti Davis and Ron Reagan, from her father's second marriage to Nancy Davis.

Biography[edit]

Maureen Reagan with her mother, Jane Wyman (1944)

Early life[edit]

Reagan was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from Marymount Secondary School, Tarrytown, NY in 1958 and briefly attended Marymount University.[3] Her parents also had another daughter, Christine, who died shortly after birth.

Acting career[edit]

Reagan pursued a career in acting in her youth, appearing in films such as Kissin' Cousins (1964) with Elvis Presley.[4]

Political activities[edit]

Reagan spoke on behalf of Republican candidates throughout the country, including twenty appearances alone in 1967 for an unsuccessful Mississippi gubernatorial nominee, Rubel Phillips, a former segregationist who ran that year on a platform of racial moderation.[5]

Reagan was the first daughter of a president to run for political office,[6] but both of her attempts at election ended in defeat. She ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate from California in 1982 – Pete Wilson was the eventual winner – and in 1992 for California's 36th congressional district.[7]

Although they maintained a united front, Maureen Reagan differed from her father on several key issues. Although reared Roman Catholic following her mother's conversion, she was pro-choice on abortion.[8] She also held the belief that Oliver North should have been court-martialed.[9]

After her father announced his diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in 1994, Maureen Reagan became a member of the Alzheimer's Association board of directors and served as the group's spokeswoman. During her hospitalization for melanoma cancer, Maureen was only floors away from her father, who had suffered a severe fall.[10]

Personal life[edit]

She was married three times:

  • John Filippone, a policeman; they were married in 1961 and divorced the following year.[11]
  • David G. Sills, a lawyer and Marine Corps officer; they married on February 28, 1964; the couple divorced in 1967.[11]
  • Dennis C. Revell, CEO of Revell Communications (a national public relations/public affairs firm), whom she married on April 25, 1981.[11] She and Revell had one daughter, Margaret "Rita" Mirembe Revell, who was born in Uganda.[1][12][13][14] The Revells became Rita's guardians in 1994. They adopted her in 2001.[1] Rita was the beneficiary of a private bill to facilitate her adoption as Maureen and Dennis Revell were unable to complete the necessary paperwork and other requirements by the Ugandan government, including a personal visitation to that country, due, in large part, to Maureen Reagan Revell's terminal cancer which claimed her life in 2001, aged 60.[1][14][15][16]

Death[edit]

Reagan died in Granite Bay, California, on August 8, 2001, aged 60, from melanoma. She was survived by her parents.[3] Reagan is interred at Calvary Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum in Sacramento, California.[17]

Reagan volunteered with actor David Hyde Pierce, of TV's Frasier, at the Alzheimer's Association. At her funeral on August 19, 2001, Pierce spoke to the gathering at Cathedral of Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, California, and recalled his friend's tireless devotion to fighting the mind-robbing illness. "When she was given lemons, she did not make lemonade. She took the lemons, threw them back and said, 'Oh, no you don't.'"[18]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Mourning Maureen Reagan". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. 100 (12): 18. September 3, 2001. ISSN 0021-5996. 
  2. ^ "Biography". Oliver Del Signore. Retrieved January 16, 2011. 
  3. ^ a b Allen, Jane (August 9, 2001). "Maureen Reagan, 60, Dies of Cancer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 30, 2013. 
  4. ^ "Maureen Reagan". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved January 23, 2009. 
  5. ^ Billy Hathorn, "Challenging the Status Quo: Rubel Lex Phillips and the Mississippi Republican Party (1963-1967)", The Journal of Mississippi History XLVII, November 1985, No. 4, p. 260
  6. ^ Doug Wead, All the Presidents' Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families. Atria Books (2003). p. 155.
  7. ^ Foerstel, Karen; Herbert N. Foerstel (1996). "The Decade of the Woman: An Uncertain Promise". Climbing the Hill: Gender Conflict in Congress. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 77–78. ISBN 9780275949143. 
  8. ^ Foerstel 1996, p. 77.
  9. ^ Reagan, Maureen (2001). "Iran-Contra". First Father, First Daughter: A Memoir. Little, Brown and Company. p. 374. ISBN 9780316736367. 
  10. ^ "Family Misfortune". People. 55 (4). January 29, 2001. Retrieved January 23, 2009. A Fall Lands Ronald Reagan in the Same Hospital as His Cancer-Stricken Daughter 
  11. ^ a b c "Daughter of President Is Married in California". New York Times. April 25, 1981. Retrieved January 17, 2011. 
  12. ^ United States Congress. "For the relief of Rita Mirembe Revell (a.k.a. Margaret Rita Mirembe)". Open Library. Retrieved September 5, 2011. 
  13. ^ Congressional Record - Google Books. Retrieved September 5, 2011. 
  14. ^ a b "Statement by the Press Secretary". Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. July 19, 2001. Retrieved September 5, 2011. 
  15. ^ 107th Congress (2001) (March 19, 2001). "S. 560 (107th)". Legislation. GovTrack.us. Retrieved April 8, 2013. A bill for the relief of Rita Mirembe Revell (a.k.a. Margaret Rita Mirembe). 
  16. ^ Congressional Record. Retrieved September 5, 2011. 
  17. ^ "Maureen Reagan". Notable Names Database. Retrieved Sep 13, 2005. 
  18. ^ "Reagan's Daughter Mourned". NY Daily News. August 19, 2001. Retrieved January 14, 2010. 

External links[edit]


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