Ligonier native, sculptor Fagan recalls Reagans' 'true relationship'

Chas Fagan wasn't present when his sculpture design was chosen for the statue of President Ronald Reagan in the Capitol rotunda, but someone sent him a photo of the moment Nancy Reagan made her decision.

The snapshot captured the former first lady cradling the 2-foot clay model and caressing the back of her late husband's head, Fagan said. To this day, he gets a little emotional thinking about it.

“It was one of those moments where you thought, ‘Wow, that's a true relationship,' ” said Fagan, a native of Ligonier.

Fagan reflected on his encounters with Nancy Reagan after hearing the news of her death Sunday.

He met with her several times, first in 1999 about an oil painting of her husband and later during the competition to construct her husband's statue in Washington.

After he finished the bronze likeness of Reagan in 2009, he was commissioned to create a bronze statue of the couple for display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, Calif., which was unveiled on the former president's 100th birthday in 2011.

“She was very gracious and extremely nice, that's for sure,” said Fagan, who lives in Charlotte, N.C.

When he was designing the sculpture of the Reagans together, he received a large box with one of the first lady's outfits to use as a model. Since he was basing his design on what the couple looked like in the 1980s, when Reagan was president, the skirt and jacket combination were a bit dated.

Mrs. Reagan requested alterations be made so her ensemble looked a little more “timeless,” Fagan said.

“The shoulders had to be properly tailored,” he said.

His favorite part of that piece, though, is visible only from the back, he said.

When he and a group of engineers were trying to figure out how to stabilize the “larger than life” bronze statue at the entrance of the library, Fagan realized it would be easier to construct their two likenesses together, as opposed to building them as two sculptures placed next to each other.

He designed the piece with the president lightly resting his hand at the small of Mrs. Reagan's back.

“Her relationship with President Reagan was really impressive,” he said. “They were very much a unit.”

When Fagan presented the finished sculpture to Nancy Reagan, he suggested she hold her husband's hand and pose for a photo.

She replied, Fagan said, with “I always did.”

Elizabeth Behrman is a Tribune-Reviewstaff writer. She can be reached at 412-320-7886 or Lbehrman@tribweb.com.