Neil Reagan; Ad Exec, Brother of Ex-President

Neil Reagan, a communications executive who was the only sibling of former President Ronald Reagan, has died. He was 88.

He died Wednesday of heart failure at Scripps Memorial Hospital in San Diego, the former president’s Los Angeles office announced Thursday. The statement from Ronald and Nancy Reagan said they will “miss him terribly.”

Much of Neil Reagan’s early life paralleled that of the future president--both grew up in Illinois, attended Eureka College there and began careers at Iowa radio stations. Following his younger brother to California, Neil Reagan became an announcer at KFWB radio.

He went on to work for CBS and then for the McCann-Erickson advertising agency, where he became senior vice president and head of the Los Angeles office. Among his duties was directing Ronald Reagan’s hosting of the television series “Death Valley Days.”

Neil Reagan, known as “Moon” to his family and close friends after the “Moon Mullins” comic strip, was president of both the Hollywood and Los Angeles Advertising Clubs, president of the Assn. of the West and a trustee of the Kennedy Child Study Center in Santa Monica. He moved to the Rancho Santa Fe area near San Diego when he retired in 1973.

In addition to his brother, Reagan is survived by his wife of 61 years, Bess, and a dozen nieces and nephews.

The family has asked that any memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society.