Reagan
Former Alcoa executive and longtime Rockdale resident Harold E. (Hal) Reagan, age 90, died Wednesday, March 13, 2024, at Baylor S c ot t & White Hospital in Round Rock.
Services were held at 10 a.m. Monday, March 18, at Phillips & Luckey Funeral Home in Rockdale. Burial followed in I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Rockdale.
Visitation was 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, March 17, at Mr. Reagan the funeral home.
Reagan was born in Madill, Oklahoma, on Oct. 17, 1933, the son of Tessie B. and Myrtie Mae (Lummus) Reagan and was the youngest of seven children. He moved to Sherman early in his childhood with his family and grew up and attended school in that North Texas city.
He went into the U.S. Navy after high school and served four years—mostly aboard the seaplane tender U.S.S Orca— during the Korean War, reaching the rank of second class petty officer before being honorably discharged in 1954.
Reagan returned to Texas and studied at Tyler Junior College, Texas Tech and North Texas State College (now the University of North Texas). He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from North Texas in 1958.
It was at Tyler that he met the love of his life, Joy Dell (Hurt) Reagan, who was attending college on a nursing scholarship. They were married on March 4, 1955, and celebrated their 67th anniversary before her death on Sept. 5, 2022.
Reagan was a reporter/editor at three daily newspapers across the state—The Tyler Morning Telegraph, The Beaumont Enterprise & Journal and The Port Arthur News—before beginning his corporate public affairs career with Aluminum Co. of America (Alcoa) in 1967 at its world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He transferred to Alcoa’s Point Comfort Operations at Port Lavaca as public relations manager a year later and then to the company’s Central Texas facility, Rockdale Operations, in 1972 as Texas public affairs/ government relations manager. Subsequent assignments were back to the corporate office in Pittsburgh and then back to Rockdale. He retired from Alcoa in 1997.
Reagan was active in several community organizations, including the Rockdale Chamber of Commerce, South Milam County United Way, Heart of Texas Boy Scouts of America Council, Milam County Historical (Jailhouse) Museum and Lucy Hill Patterson Library. He received the Rockdale chamber’s Outstanding Citizen Award in 1997.
He was a member of the Rotary Club for 50 years and served as president of the Rockdale club. He was inducted into District 4870’s Roll of Fame, the highest award conferred by the district for outstanding service. Reagan was a four-time Paul Harris Fellow contributor to the Rotary International Foundation. At one time, from 1983 until 2016, he had 33 years of perfect attendance in the club that meets weekly.
Reagan was a lifelong member of the Church of Christ and worshiped at the Murray Street Church in Rockdale. He was also a member of the Rockdale Country Club, the Austin Club, Headliners Club, Onion Creek Country Club and Austin Woods & Water Club, in addition to several state business associations including the Texas Association of Business, Texas Chemical Council, Texas Taxpayers Association, Texas Mining and Reclamation Association and Texas Chamber of Commerce.
Along with hunting and golf, Reagan enjoyed traveling the U.S. and world with his wife, Joy. They visited over 40 countries and territories, including China, Russia, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Greece and Turkey. They especially enjoyed cruising and their last one, a two-week trip to Hawaii, was their 30th sailing.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Joy; one son, Larry; two brothers and four sisters.
Reagan is sur vived by daughter Cheryl Lynn Jones and husband Wallace Jones of Rockdale; daughter Cynthia Ann Cates and husband Fred Cates of Rockdale; and a son, Phillip Craig Reagan and fiance Stacy Lange of Brenham.
Also surviving are six grandchildren, Amanda Jackson of Temple, Freddie Cates of Aurora, Tearle Cates of Fredericksburg, April Leita of Victoria, Jessica Ramos of Rockdale and Austin Reagan of Brenham; 12 great-grandchildren and numerous nephews and nieces.
Arrangements by Phillips & Luckey Funeral Home, P.O. Drawer 1417, Rockdale, TX 76567, 512-446-5454.