Ronald Wilson Reagan was the son of Jack and Nelle Reagan and was born on February 6th, 1911 in Tampico, IL in an apartment above the local bank. When asked what the child looked like, his father Jack remarked that he looked like “a fat little Dutchman”. His mother also gave him a “Dutch boy hair cut.” The Nickname “Dutch” then stuck. Ronald “Dutch” Reagan and his family moved to Dixon on December 6th 1920. Ronald was just about 10 years old at the time and lived there until after he graduated from Eureka College at 22 years old. They first moved to the house at 816 Hennepin Ave. then moved to several other houses over the years.
While in Dixon, Ron and his brother Neil checked out hundreds of books from the public library, attended South Central School and worked as caddies at the country club. Ron was a drum major for the Dixon YMCA Band, and a life guard out at Lowell Park where he saved 77 lives from the Rock River. He was a member of the First Christian Church in Dixon and taught Sunday School with his mother Nelle.