ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602060015
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: JEFF WILSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE FORMER PRESIDENT'S ABSENCE from ``the 46th anniversary of my 39th birthday'' is the latest sign that Alzheimer's may be taking a toll.
On Ronald Reagan's 85th birthday Tuesday, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, retired Gen. Colin Powell and 500 others will celebrate the milestone at the restaurant where Reagan proposed to his wife.
But Reagan, who would call the occasion ``the 46th anniversary of my 39th birthday,'' won't be there.
It's the latest sign that Alzheimer's disease may be taking a toll on Ronald Wilson Reagan, the nation's 40th chief executive.
Known as Dutch, The Gipper and The Great Communicator, Reagan is seen these days only by a few friends, staff and family.
The public hasn't seen him since he disclosed 15 months ago in a letter that he has Alzheimer's disease, and he was beginning ``the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life.''
The Reagan family wants the world to remember the avuncular, witty Reagan rather than a man with a memory-sapping disease.
``President Reagan is not comfortable attending large public events any longer,'' said spokeswoman Joanne Drake, who faithfully relays upbeat information about Reagan: He comes to his Century City office every day, plays golf and is ``doing well.''
``I plan to play golf with Ronald Reagan on his 85th birthday,'' businessman and Reagan friend Lodwrick M. Cook said.
Daughter Maureen Reagan said a few months ago her father and the family are ``very well aware'' of his Alzheimer's disease, an irreversible neurological disorder that destroys the brain's memory cells.
Reagan and former first lady Nancy Reagan declined interview requests.
On Tuesday, Nancy Reagan will hold a $1,000-a-plate birthday celebration at Chasen's restaurant, where Reagan proposed to her in 1952. Closed last April, the legendary film industry eatery is reopening for the benefit.
Proceeds go to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.
Reagan's favorites are on the menu - chili, chicken pot pie and an ice cream-coconut-chocolate sauce snowball for dessert. Nancy Reagan didn't want a birthday cake because Reagan won't be there to blow out the candles.
Chasen's also was the site of Reagan's 60th and 80th birthday celebrations, occasions he annually updated as the such-and-such anniversary of his 39th birthday.
John Adams, James Madison, Herbert Hoover and Harry Truman are the only other presidents who surpassed age 85.
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