Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Jerry Carl Regan was born Dec. 18, 1917, in Akeley, Minnesota, son of William Alvin Regan (1881-1947) and Augusta Louise Winkelman Collins Regan (1882-1968). His grandparents were Jeremiah H. Regan (1842-1922) and Bridget Agnes Buckley Regan (1843-1924).

Jerry graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in pharmacy in 1941, the year he married June Kahler. June Dorothy Kehler was born April 25, 1917, in Minneapolis. They married in Excelsior on Aug. 25, 1941.

Jerry started his career as a pharmacist in Bemidji at Johnson Corner Drug Store. While in Bemidji, Jerry was a member of the Jaycees and was chairman of the Water Carnival. He was also a member of the Elks Lodge in Bemidji.

Jerry and June had three children: Emily Louise in 1942, Jerry William in 1944, and David Frank Regan in 1949.

In 1949, Jerry purchased the Scott County Drug Store in Shakopee and the family moved here. According to an article in the Shakopee Valley News on Jan. 23, 1997, Jerry owned and operated that store, which had the distinction of being the longest continuously operated drugstore in the state, until 1975.

The drugstore started on the northwest corner of First and Holmes Street in 1860. It was started by Charles Bahnerd. The drugstore moved to 120 East First Avenue and sold to Charlie Lord in 1873. In 1883, the drugstore moved once more, this time to 109 South Lewis Street. It was sold to Ben Kohler.

In July 1893, Math A. Deutsch, a registered pharmacist, and Herbert Zettel, purchased the drug store and a lucrative insurance business from Ben A. Kohler. Six years later, Mr. Deutsch bought Mr. Zettel’s interests in the business, thus becoming the sole owner. In 1898, Math was joined by his brother, Frank, in the operation of the business. The called the store Deutsch Drug Store.

Built upon the practice of the golden rule, a trait so frequently lacking in the highly competitive commerce of the modern day, the Deutsch Drug Store enjoyed a large patronage and an enviable reputation, noted the Shakopee Argus-Tribune on July 10, 1952.

“Many thousands of painstakingly compounded prescriptions, which restored health and helped to preserve life had passed through the cautious hands of the two brothers. In 1952, Math was 81 years old, and Frank was 75. Both of them welcomed the opportunity to give up their daily grind that has been theirs for so many years, though they must have missed the long business association that was soon drawing to a close.”

Paul Nevin and Bill Krawnblaud purchased the drugstore in 1946, and then kept it until December 1947. At that time, it was moved to 102 West First Avenue and called the Scott County Drug Store. It included new fixtures and a new fountain featuring Bridgeman’s ice cream, according to the Shakopee Valley News, Jan. 23, 1985.

The drug store was purchased again on March 4, 1949, this time by Jerry C. Regan from Bemidji. He moved with his family to Shakopee.

In an article in the Shakopee Heritage Society Newsletter, “Memories of the Scott County Drug Store,” Lois Marschall Wendt remembers Lalapaloozas and Lalapalooza Juniors. “It was a very large sundae with many kinds of ice cream and toppings,” Lois said. “I had to make egg salad, tuna salad, and ham salad sandwiches. The ham salad was made from the left over ham we had baked at the Shakopee Bakery…People loved the fresh baked ham sandwiches.”

“Every day we would have special jobs. I can’t remember each day, but I do remember Thursdays. We had to climb up on the window ledge above the whole length of the soda fountain and wash the windows. The neon light signs were really scary. And balancing on the window ledge in our white uniforms wasn’t very appealing to us at all. We would love to have Thursday off!”

“Sometimes Jerry would be very particular about how many ounces went into each cone, but not very often. Bridgeman’s would come out every once in a while for a soda fountain school. I remember Mabel Huth and Adeline Schneider. Mabel worked the fountain and Adeline worked the drug store,” noted Lois. “Jerome (Squint) Jaspers would always try to trip me up when making change. He would pay for his coffee and cigarettes. I would ring it up, and then he would add something else, so I would have to add the two together. He couldn’t understand why this was so hard. Of course, cash registers then were not like today!”

Another thing that Lois remembered was when the younger soda fountain workers would help in the drug store if needed. “They would ask me what they should do if someone asked for something and they didn’t know what it was. One guy came in and asked this poor innocent woman for condoms, and of course, she asked what it was used for (as per my instructions)! He quickly asked for the pharmacist as most guys did in the first place!”

In an article in the Shakopee Valley News in 1994, Carol Ann Johnson Schneider, Class of 1956, remembered, “We traded comic books and learned the words of all of the popular songs from a book we bought at Regan’s Drug Store.”

At the Women’s Reformatory (now known as the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee) the Shaw Cottage was the Shakopee Home for Children from Sept.19, 1951 to June 30, 1969. At that time, 30 girls from ages 4 to 12 lived in the cottage, with ten staff members and ten inmates who assisted, providing a program of rehabilitation with a humanitarian aspect. Jerry Regan and family from the Scott County Drug Store showed up every Sunday morning with two buckets of Bridgeman’s Ice cream for the children. In 1960, the fountain was taken out and the store was remodeled.

Jerry lived the Rotary motto of “service above self” as a civic leader in Shakopee, according to the Shakopee Valley News on Jan. 23, 1997. “Besides being a founding member of the Shakopee Rotary in 1955, and its second president, he was a founding member of the Shakopee Parks and Recreation District. He was committed to politics as a committee chairman, caucus leader and fund-raiser for the Independent-Republican Party for more than 40 years and as a Shakopee school board member from 1952-1967.”

“His love of the outdoors made him active in the Boy Scouts and his faith in God made him active in St. John’s Lutheran Church in Shakopee as chairman of the building committee from 1952-1957. Rev. Skip Reeves said Regan was ‘extremely well thought of’ adding that he ‘went out of his way for many people.’”

On June 4, 1976, the Deutsch/Scott County Drug Store closed after 114 years of business. After a long illness, Jerry Carl Regan died on Jan. 14, 1997, in Shakopee. His wife, June Kahler Regan, at age 94, died at Shakopee Friendship Manor Nursing Home on Feb. 4, 2012. She was an active volunteer with the St. Francis Hospital Auxiliary, community blood drives, a life-long Sunday school teacher and church worker, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts at which all benefited from her twinkling eyes and radiant smile.

Jerry and June were buried at Valley Cemetery in Shakopee.