BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Marian Setterfield hold up a photo of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, center bottom, at a fund-raiser in Hillsborough, Calif., in 1970. Setterfield is pictured at the bottom right. FitzHenry's funeral service assistant Mona Smolenski stands at the back while the Reagan memorial is set to the left of her.
Marian Setterfield called it her civic duty. Others may see it as helping to build an American hero.
"I walked door to door and rang door bells," she remembered. "I pushed my babies in strollers up and down the streets to campaign for Ronnie Reagan. That's how we did it back then."
With help of volunteers like Setterfield, who is now 79, Reagan was elected to two terms as California's governor, then went on to serve two terms as the 40th president of the United States. He died June 5 at the age of 93.
Two worn photos from a 1970 campaign stop show Setterfield and her husband, Robert, posing with the Reagans.
They brought those photos with them to FitzHenry's Funeral Home on Friday to sign their names on a record to be sent to the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
More than a thousand people added their signatures to the list of mourners in memorial books set up at the funeral homes in Carson City and Gardnerville from Wednesday to Friday, which was set aside as a national day of mourning.
"From looking at the outpouring of the nation, we knew there were so many people who felt they needed to do something," said general manager Jim Smolenski. "This is the perfect opportunity to do something. The response has been phenomenal."
A lone white candle burned next to the open book as Marissa Graef-Faeth approached to add her own name. As she formed the letters, her mind drifted back to Germany, where she was born and raised. A different Germany.
"I loved Ronald Reagan," she said. "I loved that the Berlin Wall came down. That's what it took to get East Germany and West Germany united."
A resident of the United States for 15 years and a citizen for 10, she said Reagan shaped her American ideals.
"The Reagans represented what is great about America," said Graef-Faeth, 60.
In addition to writing their names, some mourners left messages such as, "Thank you for being my commander in chief. May God bless you," and "Heaven is rejoicing to have you home."
Lisa Sheppard, 38, brought her 8-year-old daughter, Sierra, to sign the memorial with her.
"I wish she would have known Reagan," Lisa said. "If I could have driven to California and taken her with me, I would have.
"He's my favorite president. He was a true leader."
Sierra maintains her favorite president is Abraham Lincoln, but also respects Reagan.
"I think he helped the country a lot," she said. Then she whispered to her mom, "And he liked jelly beans."
To add your name to the list, call FitzHenry's Funeral Home at 882-2644 or 782-1999.
Contact Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or at 881-1272.
