Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was born in an upstairs apartment at 111 South Main Street in Tampico on February 6, 1911. His father, John “Jack” Reagan, of Irish-Catholic ancestry, was a clerk in the H. C. Pitney Store at 122/124 South Main Street and gave Ronald the nickname “Dutch,” while his mother, Nelle Wilson Reagan, was of Scots-English background. Ronald had one brother, Neil “Moon” Reagan. Tampico’s small-town atmosphere played an important role in Reagan’s formative years: as a child he played on a cannon in the park, the grandchildren of the town’s founder, J. W. Glassburn, were his friends and introduced him to horseback riding, and in the nearby Hennepin feeder canal he became an excellent swimmer, a skill he later used as a lifeguard on the Rock River. Both of his parents were known for their acting ability in productions at Burden’s Opera House, and his mother’s Christian influence and local churches had a large bearing on his life and values. Reagan later became a sports announcer and a well-known movie star, served as governor of California from 1967–1975, and then as president of the United States from 1981–1989. He died in 2004 and is buried at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Tampico is also the birthplace of Admiral Joseph M. “Bull” Reeves, known as the “Father of Carrier Aviation,” and the town’s Shaheen family became noted for government and legal services.