Bill Reagan plastered his heart along America's highways. He didn't realize everyone would notice
In 1965, William 'Bill' Reagan was a man hopelessly in love.
Though Catholic, he ended up at a Jewish party before Hanukkah because his friend needed a ride.
That's when he saw Julia.
'She was the most attractive woman in the room,' he said. 'So I walked over and asked her to dance, and she accepted.' They danced several times that night.
Three weeks and five dates later, she was Mrs. Julia Reagan. Before she was the cultural phenomenon of 2024/25 with photos and videos of billboards across the nation dedicated to her flooding social media — the lady who popped up on billboards along America's highway system — she was someone's soulmate.
After talking with Bill Reagan, now 80 years old, at the headquarters of his billboard company, Reagan Outdoor Advertising, in North Salt Lake, one thing became unmistakably clear: Julia was his muse, and the open sky above the country's highways, his canvas.
'We were soulmates,' he told the Deseret News, and with her now gone, his billboards featuring her help ease what he's lost. 'It's really helped me with my grieving, seeing her on our billboards,' he said tearfully. 'Whether I'm here or Indianapolis or Chattanooga or Austin, Texas, she'll surprise me.'
Their love story sounded more like a Nicholas Sparks novel — a whirlwind romance with different religious, political and economic backgrounds standing in their way. But despite it all, they always fought for each other. Almost incomprehensible by the standards of dating today.
On their first proper date, Bill took Julia to the Weber State snowball formal. When he called and invited her, she 'gave me a little bit of a hard time,' he said. What he didn't know was that she had a prospective fiancé, a Harvard Medical School graduate, whom her parents were pushing her to be with. She said yes to Bill anyway.
After the dance ended at around midnight, 'I took her down and showed her my motorcycle,' he said. 'We then got on the motorcycle, and in my tux and my top hat and her formal, we rode down Washington Boulevard in Ogden, Utah.'
On their fifth date, after going out and eating at the Sky Room of the Hotel Utah, they found themselves at the bus station to get a midnight snack. He noted that it was the only place open with food at that time of night.
While they were there, Bill said announcements were being called for buses leaving to Wendover, Reno and then San Francisco.
'And as a tease, Julia said, 'Let's go to San Francisco.''
'And I said, 'Well, if we do that, we better stop in Reno and get married.''
'And so she said, 'OK,'' Bill said. 'I mean, this is truly how it happened. It was crazy. It was almost like a dare.'
'I got the car and got driving, and I said, 'If I get past the airport, I'm not stopping.' She said, 'That's fine.''
They drove seven hours through the night to Reno, Nevada, taking turns for the other to sleep. When Bill woke up while Julia was taking her turn driving, he said he started wondering, 'What did I get myself into here?'
But then, 'I just remember looking at her, and she looked so beautiful driving my 1964 Chevelle Super Sport convertible.'
He was hooked.
The next morning, they were married at the courthouse then called her parents to tell them what they'd just done. Her folks were so upset that the newlyweds thought about making a run for San Francisco, but ultimately decided against it.
'I don't think we ever could have made a protracted courtship because of the differences of religion, differences of social structure,' he said. They agreed to have a religious ceremony when they returned.
'So we have two wedding dates, the 26th and 29th of December of 1965. Her mother always recognized the second date,' he said, laughing.
The genesis of their union was only a preview of the exciting life they would build together. They both kept each other on their toes. For her 30th birthday, he surprised her with a giant surprise party. She returned the favor twice, even faking an entire wedding to trick him into showing up at his own birthday celebration.
They had four children together, giving them 10 grandchildren. 'She dedicated her life to me above all, and then to the children, and then to humanity,' Bill said with tears filling his eyes. She was heavily involved in community nonprofits.
'She was liberal left, and of course, I was right (politically),' which at times caused tense discussions, he said, but they always put their love first. Julia used to joke that 'I'm fortunate because I have this right-wing husband, but he allows me to donate where I want,' Bill said.
Despite it all, there was one party they had in common: the billboard party. 'Whether someone was a Democrat, Republican, independent, or whatever, if they liked billboards, they were friends of ours.'
But, 'We were complete opposites. She was very introverted, quiet, and I was the extrovert,' he said. When asked how she would have felt toward the billboards, he said he didn't know.
'She would have liked the boards, because we would do that for our birthdays and things like that,' he noted, but the length and attention they've been given, she probably wouldn't have loved, he joked. 'She'd have to be dead to tolerate this because she was so private,' he laughed, but 'that's my choice. This is part of my way of grieving her.'
'It's going to be hard on me when the boards go down, really. ... Because I just get a warm and positive feeling when I drive along, and all of a sudden I see one of her boards. So it's going to be hard.'
It's almost been a year since Julia died on June 12, 2024, and Bill said the billboards are going to begin coming down soon. Starting on June 15, 25% of the 300 billboards will come down. Then each week, 25% more will come down until they are all gone.
But don't worry, Julia won't be gone long.
They will all be put back up every year around May 15, right before Memorial Day, and run through mid-June. For Bill, it's a chance to say goodbye.
The night that she died, he kissed her good night and went to sleep at their home about five minutes away. 'I walked into the room just as they pronounced her dead.' The whole reason for the billboards, Bill said, 'is I didn't get a chance to say goodbye.'
In February, Bill Reagan filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the University of Utah Hospital, alleging that she was not properly treated, causing her 'catastrophic sequelae and consequences, including but not limited to severe prolonged pain, fear, suffering, and death,' the lawsuit, obtained by Deseret News, said.
Because the lawsuit is ongoing, the hospital has previously said it will not comment on the proceeding, but did say that 'As always, the care of our patients is our priority.'
What started as a man's last love letter to his beloved has become a national-scale sensation. Bill had no idea.
After scrolling TikTok for a moment, Bill saw the Halloween costumes ...
The tattoos ...
Julia Reagan Tattoo by u/Acrobatic-Basket-229 in SaltLakeCity
and the playful envy ...
'I'm just so surprised, because it's like unintended consequences,' he said, laughing. 'I mean, they're positive. Now, I have seen some people making fun of them and making some negative comments too, but that's life, and everybody has their opinion one way or the other.'
However, he believes that most people have positive feelings toward the billboards. 'Like, you know, 'I'd like to have that happen to me when I die,' type of thing.'
He did share a video someone sent him of a girl who wrote a song about the billboards of his wife.
'Julia Reagan, you are the queen of the I-15. ... Julia Reagan we never met, I'll never forget to remember you,' the song goes.
With the billboards returning every spring, it's doubtful anyone in a state where Reagan billboards are located will forget Julia. And maybe that's a good thing.
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