Nelle Wilson Reagan

Nelle Clyde Wilson Reagan (July 24, 1883 – July 25, 1962) was the mother of 40th United States President Ronald Reagan and his older brother Neil Reagan.

Early life Nelle was born in Fulton, Illinois, the oldest of seven children of Mary Ann (née Elsey) and Thomas Wilson. Her father was born in Clyde Township, Whiteside County, Illinois, of Scottish descent (partly by way of today Canada) while her mother was English, born in Epsom, Surrey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Nelle met Jack Reagan in a farm town along the Illinois prairie. The two were married in Fulton in November 1904. They had two children: Neil "Moon" Reagan (b. 1908) and Ronald Wilson Reagan (b. 1911). After the birth of her second son, Nelle was told not to have any more children. The Reagan family moved from Tampico to many small Illinois towns, and Chicago, depending on Jack's employment.

Workings with the church

Ronald Reagan wrote that his mother "always expected to find the best in people and often did". She was also an adherent of the Social Gospel movement. Her strong commitment to the church is what induced her son Ronald to become a Protestant Christian rather than a Roman Catholic like his father.

Participation in amateur theatricals Aside from her work with the church, Nelle acted in many plays. In 1913, she performed in Lizzie May Elwyn's melodrama Millie, the Quadroon; or, Out of Bondage, an historical drama set in the Antebellum south. Nelle performed, in succession, the role of a genteel Northern matron, a nun, and a Southern field-hand. One 1926 review of the play The Ship of Faith said, "Mrs. Reagan is one of Dixon's favorite readers and has appeared before many audiences, always greatly pleasing them."

Later life and death In 1938, after both Neil and Ronald Reagan had moved to California, Ronald bought his parents a new home in Hollywood; it was the first home they had ever owned. Nelle's life also changed after her husband Jack's death on May 18, 1941, leaving her widowed. She maintained her connections to the church in Dixon and began working at a tuberculosis sanitarium in Southern California. In her later years, however, Nelle had problems with her physical health and senility (later diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease). Nelle died from complications of the disease on July 25, 1962, a day after her 79th birthday.