Maureen Reagan

Maureen Elizabeth Reagan (January 4, 1941–August 8, 2001) was the first-born daughter of former President Ronald Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman. Maureen's brother and the couple's only son, Michael Reagan, was born and adopted into the family in 1945. Maureen and Michael's sister Christine was the couple's last child. She was born prematurely and died the day after her birth in 1947. As a young woman, Reagan acted in films, including Kissin' Cousins (1964) with Elvis Presley. She married and divorced John Filippone and David G. Sills, before marrying her third husband, Dennis Revell, in 1981.

During her lifetime she was involved with the Republican Party and worked as a political activist, radio talk show host, commentator and health care advocate. Her most active political years were in the 1980s, during her father's presidency, when she was a member of the California World Trade Commission, chairwoman of the United States delegation to the United Nations' Decade for Women Conference in Kenya, in 1985; co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, and chairwoman of the Republican Women's Political Action League.

She was the first daughter of a president to run for political office, but both of her attempts at election to a public office ended in defeat. She ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate from California in 1982, and in 1992 for California's 36th congressional district.

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. She also believed that Oliver North should have been court-martialed.

After her father announced his diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in 1994, she 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.

She served on the Board of Trustees of her father's alma mater, Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois from March 2000 until her death. On May 9, 2000, she was the speaker at the dedication of the Ronald Reagan Peace Garden on campus. The Reagan Peace Garden recognized her father's contribution to the end of the Cold War. It had been raining all day during several other speeches, but when she stepped to the lectern the sun broke through. She opened her remarks to the crowd of more than 1,000 by saying, "the sun always shines on Ronald Reagan."

She died in Sacramento, California, in 2001, aged 60, from melanoma, and was survived by her parents, stepmother, husband Dennis, and their adopted Ugandan-American daughter, Rita Mirembe Revell.

Reagan volunteered with actor David Hyde Pierce, of TV's Frasier, at the Alzheimer’s Association. At Maureen's 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.'"

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Category:1941 births Category:2001 deaths Category:American health activists Category:American film actors