Head of Arc of Southeast Iowa, renowned community man, dies

IOWA CITY – The emails and phone calls to the Arc of Southeast Iowa came one after the other Monday.

What a terrible loss. Good friend and great man. Staggering news. A great friend, a mentor and an example to all. He will be missed exponentially.

The messages were in response to the news that Bill Reagan, president and CEO of the Arc of Southeast Iowa, had died of blood and bone marrow cancer about 1 a.m. Monday at age 59. He was diagnosed in the spring, said Karen DeGroot, the organization's vice president of operations.

“The condolences that we're getting have been amazing,” she said. “He was such a great community participant.”

The Arch of Southeast Iowa is a nonprofit organization that serves children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. It's based out of Iowa City and covers a 13-county area and works with more than 500 families, according to its website.

Reagan had headed the agency just shy of eight years after spending a quarter century working at a youth shelter in Davenport, DeGroot said.

Prior to his tenure, the Arc did not employ many of its clients. But he changed that, DeGroot said, and now they have jobs answering phones, cleaning, shredding documents and doing minor maintenance work for the Arc.

Reagan had been in and out of the hospital, but after having chemotherapy in the mornings, he'd come and work a full day, she said.

“He loved his job,” she said. “He loved to be here. He loved the clients.”

Josh Schamberger, president of the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, often saw Reagan at events for nonprofit agencies. Every conversation was enjoyable, he said, and Reagan clearly had a love for the community.

“He was just a very genuine and just a terrific man,” he said.

Schamberger recalled how, whenever he or the Convention and Visitors Bureau received positive press, Reagan would mail him a note and the newspaper clipping. This was a common practice of Reagan's and something Janelle Rettig, chairwoman of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, also experienced.

She joked that he must have spent a fortune on cards and said his personal touch extended to frequently telling people how much they meant to him and the community, often followed by a hug.

“He hugged everybody,” Rettig said. “And he just saw the angels in everyone.”

Details on services for Reagan are pending, DeGroot said.