Canaan
A longtime Selectboard member, Reagan wouldn’t just wait for someone to make a presentation at a meeting. When he got wind of trouble, he was out in Canaan, canvassing neighbors and gaining first-hand perspective.
“I can certainly state that Bob Reagan was one of the most well-informed, even-tempered people that considered every facet of a problem before making a decision,” said Town Administrator Mike Samson.
Those kind words don’t come easily from Samson, who’s spent most of his career in municipal government. He’s worked for at least 100 board members in that time, but says Reagan was special.
“I thought he was an extraordinary selectman,” Samson said. “He showed balance, commitment to people. He was full of historical information about the town.”
But it’s not just his work for the town that will be missed.
When Reagan died on Aug. 2, 2016, at the age of 80, the community lost a man with compassion, an eager willingness to help others and a love of family.
“I would say he was the best father that you could possibly ask for,” said Rebecca Timmins, his daughter.
At home, Reagan was easy going, sustained a great sense of humor and was known for kindness, she said. Reagan also had a soft spot for his grandchildren.
“He had a very dry sense of humor with adults, but with the kids he was always silly,” Timmins said.
Born on what would someday become Reagan Road on March 28, 1936, Bob Reagan was a Canaan resident almost his entire life.
He grew up on his parents’ farm with two brothers and although they didn’t have a great deal of money, the family was happy, Timmins said.
Even as a child, it was clear that Reagan had an eye for spotting detail and decision making, said Guy Plume, a childhood friend.
The two were close and while there were joint discussions about what a day’s excursions would entail, he said Reagan often was the deciding factor.
“Bob was a good, honest leader,” Plume said. “If I could ever have him for a brother, I would have.”
The two were teenagers when they first met Molly Henley, a Rhode Island girl who spent summers visiting her grandparents in Canaan.
“I met up with all the kids my age when I was with my grandparents,” she said. “I always loved it here. It’s so beautiful. I love the mountains better than the city.”
She and Reagan soon fell in love, began dating and were married on Sept. 14, 1957.
“I we knew they were going to do it,” Plume said. “We just didn’t know when.”
When Molly graduated from high school, she moved to Canaan and the two began raising a family.
At the time, Bob Reagan was in the Coast Guard, one of his first forays into public service.
When Bob Reagan was young, his older brother Bill was serving in the Navy stationed in Iceland. During one flight, Bill Reagan’s plane went down and was never found.
“That’s why he was in the Coast Guard,” Molly Reagan said. “He thought maybe he could help somebody.”
Bob Reagan served for four years until 1959, and came back to take a position as a machinist at Split Ballbearing and raise three children — William, Scott and Rebecca.
The family first stayed at his parents’ homestead until he began building a home for his own family in 1976.
“It was always something they dreamed of having,” said Timmins.
She was about 12 at the time, but said her two brothers helped build the house and it quickly became a family ordeal. Both of her brothers went on to build their own homes in adulthood using skills learned from their father.
“He essentially knew how to do everything,” she said. “He could do the building, carpentry, plumbing. That’s how he raised my brothers.”
Scott Reagan remembers spending a lot of time outside in those days.
“We did a lot of camping when we were younger, snowmobiling,” Scott Reagan said. “He liked to snowmobile when he was younger.”
Timmins said she spent a much of her time watching her father cut wood, garden or even walk the dog; anything to get outdoors.
“He loved to be outside,” she said. “It didn’t matter what the weather was like.”
Richard Vandall moved up to the area in the late 1970s, after the Reagan family home was complete, and remembers Bob Reagan’s commitment to looking out for neighbors.
He always knew who was coming up and down the road, and was quick to lend a hand, Vandall said.
“One of the nicest people you would ever want to meet,” Vandall said. “He was nice to everybody.”
He said the Reagan family did a great deal not only for him, but the whole community.
If there was a repair to be made, Bob Reagan was quick to help.
Anything Reagan couldn’t do on his own, he was either able to learn quickly or find someone who could.
“Those people are hard to find, and you won’t find them anymore,” Vandall said.
Reagan wasn’t just the resident handyman on his block, he also made a career of it as a machinist.
“He loved anything to do with engineering and engines,” Molly Reagan said. “He could do anything he put his hands to.”
After 40 years at Split Ballbearing — which would become Timken — Reagan retired in 1999. And that’s when his service to town government began.
He was initially appointed to the Selectboard in 2004, but lost his reelection bid a year later. In 2005, another vacancy on the board was filled by Reagan, and he continued in the role until his death 11 years later.
Samson, the town manager, said Reagan led the board through a time of great crisis when Canaan was somewhere between $400,000 and $700,000 in debt.
“He came in as a selectman with the mandate to try and make it better, to fix the problem and get rid of the indebtedness,” Samson said. So, Reagan got to work right away.
With his colleagues on the board, he worked to cut costs while trying not to damage essential social services.
“We went through the budget and we cut and we cut,” remembers Selectboard member Scott Borthwick, who joined Reagan on the board around 2008.
Borthwick said those cuts ultimately helped pay off the debt and started a tradition of Canaan operating debt free.
While that sounds like fiscal conservatism at work, Samson said, ridding the town of debt meant it was in good shape through the Great Recession, when it was able to continue paying its staff as other towns made cuts.
The town also began investing in capital reserve funds during Reagan’s time on the board.
In 2009, it was just investing $30,000 for town departments and $50,000 for bridges in reserve funds. Now, that combined number is closer to $300,000.
Reagan didn’t accomplish that by stiffing social service agencies either, Samson said. He voted in favor of helping the visiting nurses association and senior center, and also supported increasing the town’s elderly tax exemption.
“He was a bit of a mentor through the whole thing,” Borthwick said, adding that Reagan’s knowledge of the town and its people was invaluable.
He said any decision made by Bob Reagan wasn’t taken lightly, and he would spend a lot of time getting community input.
“I’m very conservative and a lot of things I feel are a waste of money I’ll just say ‘no’ to,” Borthwick said. “Bob would listen to both sides before making any decision.”
“He loved it. Some people were not very pleasant (and) I told him ‘I think you would get sick of that,’ ” Mollly Reagan said. But he didn’t.
Reagan also cared for town staffers. Everyday that he was on the job, Samson said, so was Reagan. And that included weekends.
But he wouldn’t come to town hall without first greeting his grandchildren as they came off the bus after school.
Grandchildren were a big part of his life, Scott Reagan said. The family had free rent on a beach in town and Bob Reagan would often take the grandchildren for days on the water.
“Both our parents helped to raise our kids,” said Timmins. “Our children spent a lot of time with them when they were growing up.”
She said they they always brought him funny shirts for birthdays and Father’s Day, and he was the first one to pick them up on early release days.
“I always felt like the town was so lucky to have him, that we were lucky to have him as our father, as a husband and a grandfather,” she said.
Five days after his death, about 75 people gathered at the Canaan Meeting House to honor Reagan through the dedication of a pew box.
A plaque on the pew will soon commemorate his work, as well.
“He was slow to anger, took his time with decision and gave people second chances,” it will read. “He was what everyone would want as a selectman. He will be missed.”
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.