1909
One of the tough things to report at this writing is the death of Sawny Reagan on Sunday, April 24, at his home in Berkeley, Calif. I'll let the In Memoriam department take care of Sawny's vital statistics, but here and now I pay tribute to a swell guy who got everything he attained in life because of his own initiative and ability. Anybody who knew him in college predicted that he'd go places, and he did.
The first I heard that all was not well with Sawny came in a letter dated March 16, from my West Coast correspondent who prefers to remain anonymous. He wrote:
"We had our annual meeting here last week and Sawny Reagan was missing from the Old Timers' table. I called around today to check, and found that he had resigned last November as president of the Hobart Estate company (a job he had taken on since his retirement as vice president of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1948). I then learned that he was among those who study cardiographs. In other words, I got the hint that his ticker wasn't doing its stuff. I was told that the last two days have been 'not so good'."
Another letter dated April 26:
"Sawny Reagan passed to the land of light yesterday, April 24, at his home, 25 Oakvale Ave., Berkeley. Heart condition. Funeral is private. He was first prominent here in Dartmouth circles in the late 1910-20 period, as secretary of the Dartmouth Association of Northern California and Nevada. Later on, maybe in the '20s, he was president of the association, and I believe he represented this district on the Alumni Council. He was a strong factor in the upbuilding of the San Francisco alumni group, and I understand he did not pull his punches as a member of the Council."
Sawny (his given names were Frank Joseph) came to Hanover from Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., where he was a classmate of Dutch Schildmiller, Heinie Bullock, JackClough, Carlton Dodge, Art Graves, AllanMcCurdy, and George Oliphant. A raw-boned guy, that's where he got the nickname of Sawny. Dartmouth fitted him like a glove, and it wasn't long before he moved into the leadership category. He caught on the freshman and sophomore baseball teams. As a junior, he was elected assistant manager of basketball, and moved up to manager his senior year. He became a member of Phi Gam and a member of the Sphinx senior society.
Sawny wasn't heavy in the dough bag. He had to earn part of his way through college. When Burke Tailoring opened up in Hanover, Sawny got a job there helping Serry, the little Italian manager, and soon it became the hangout for a number of us guys - DutchSchildmiller, Reggie Bankart, Chase Brooks, Rollie Hastings, Freddie Morawski, GeorgeBurns, to name a few. It was a good spot to look out through the glass front-door and watch the Hanover scene go by. One of the memories that sticks in the recesses of my socalled brain is a dog fight that took place between Hoppy's dog on one side of the glass door and another pooch on the inside. They did some classy showing of teeth and fancied biting.
So we bid each other goodbye at graduation time, and the only occasion that I saw Sawny after that was one day in Chicago in the '20s when he was headed East and stopped over in the Windy City. He had matured then. His face had filled out, and he carried the mark of a successful man. Sawny, however, never donned the high hat, nor did he lose the common touch that endeared him to those who knew him. He got to be a vice president and director of Pacific Tel, and continued as a director after his retirement. He was married to Marguerite M. Shipman, who survives him.
A loyal '09er, Sawny was a generous supporter of the Alumni Fund, being an annual member of the Century Club (those who give $100 or more in any given year). He has served for the past three years as assistant class agent for the San Francisco area. This, our reunion year, he was planning to return to Hanover to renew the old friendships that have endured over the years. And as we "close ranks," as Joe Worthen puts it, the memory of Sawny will remain one of the brightest.
When this issue of the MAGAZINE reaches you, many of you guys will either be headed for Hanover and reunion, or about ready to shove off. Already you will have received the full details in the nature of the program for the short three days we'll be together, and your registration blanks. I was talking to CedWellstecL today (May 2) and he plans to fly down, landing in Lebanon on Monday afternoon, June 13, and then flying back on Wednesday morning, June 15. He's bringing his golf clubs with him. With Ced on the job, we'll have 100% representation from Cleveland, for only two of us are left since the departure of Frank Solomon. Speaking of Frank, his wife sent me a bunch of snapshots that had been taken in and around Hanover when Sollie was there. Maybe we can identify some of the lads when we look 'em over at reunion time.
Aside from a reunion report in the July issue, this will be the last blast until next October. As we close the books for the fiscal year, may I bespeak for Ralph Clement, and all those who are working hard to make the Alumni Fund a success, that you loosen up the purse strings and come forth with as much of that stuff that makes the mare go as you can afford - without sacrificing the necessities of life, of course.
Class Notes Editor, Pioneer Trail, Aurora, Ohio
Class Agent, 18 Spirea Dr., Dayton 9, Ohio
