Quick Facts
Biography
John Edward "Jack" Reagan (July 13, 1883 – May 18, 1941) was the father of radio station manager Neil "Moon" Reagan (1908–1996) and his younger brother Ronald Reagan (1911–2004), motion picture actor and 40th President.
Ancestry
Jack's paternal grandfather, Michael O'Regan, was a native of County Tipperary, Ireland. O'Regan worked as a tenant farmer during his early years in Ireland, before he moved to London in 1852. O'Regan married an Irish refugee, Catherine Mulcahey, in London and anglicised his family surname as "Reagan". The Reagans relocated to Carroll County, Illinois in 1856. John Michael, their son, became a grain-elevator farmer, and married Jenny Cusick in 1878. Cusick was born in Canada, but like John Michael, her parents came from Ireland. Their son, John Edward "Jack", was born five years later.
| 8. Thomas O'Regan | ||||||||||||||||
| 4. Michael O'Regan (Reagan) | ||||||||||||||||
| 9. Margaret Murphy | ||||||||||||||||
| 2. John Michael Reagan | ||||||||||||||||
| 10. Patrick Mulcahey | ||||||||||||||||
| 5. Catherine Mulcahey | ||||||||||||||||
| 1. John Edward "Jack Reagan | ||||||||||||||||
| 12. Patrick Thomas Cusick | ||||||||||||||||
| 6. Patrick Cusick | ||||||||||||||||
| 13. Jean Gabbert | ||||||||||||||||
| 3. Jennie Cusick | ||||||||||||||||
| 7. Sarah Higgins | ||||||||||||||||
Career
At the time of Ronald Reagan's birth in 1911, Jack was working at a store in Tampico, Illinois.
Death
Journalist Lou Cannon writes that Jack Reagan was an alcoholic in his book Reagan. This may haveled to his death on May 19, 1941, at the age of 57 after a series of heart attacks.