Reagan's brother leaves $1 million to Eureka College

There is more Ronald Reagan news on the 103rd anniversary of his birth in Tampico, Illinois. This item, from the Peoria Journal Star, involves his brother Neil, whose nickname was "Moon."

The Reagan brothers have been good to their alma mater, Eureka College.

Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, brought recognition to the college as a distinguished alumnus. The estate of his late brother, Neil, also a Eureka graduate, left $1 million and other items to the college.

Eureka officials announced the gift today, Feb. 6, on the 159th anniversary of the college's founding and what would college's what would have been Ronald Reagan's 103rd birthday.

The $1 million gift from the estate of Neil and Bess Reagan will go to the college's endowment to support various scholarships. Eureka's endowment is roughly $20 million, according to John Morris, director of Eureka's Ronald W. Reagan Society.

Neil died in 1996 at the age of 88, his wife passed away in 2010. Eureka College is 20 miles east of Peoria and the town of Eureka is a Ronald Reagan Trail stop.

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