Rev. Edward T. Clapp

CLAPP, Rev. Edward T. The Rev. Edward T. Clapp, 96, a United Church of Christ minister for more than a half-century, died peacefully on Saturday (April 3, 2004). He was a resident of Shepherd House, an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill, NC. Born in Springfield, MA, Rev. Clapp was a 1929 graduate of Harvard College, where he majored in music along with the composer Leroy Anderson, who was a classmate. He furthered his musical ambitions by earning a masters degree from Harvard in 1931. Against the backdrop of the Depression, he decided to pursue a career in the Christian ministry and entered Harvard Divinity School, from which he graduated in 1934. He accepted a call to the First Congregational Church in New Ipswich, NH, where he was ordained in 1936. That same year he married the former Ruth Caswell, who was his wife for 64 years until her death in 2000. In 1941, the Clapps moved to Connecticut. Rev. Clapp served as minister of the First Congregational Church in Portland for more than three decades. In 1972 he accepted a post as Minister of Visitation to the ill and elderly at the Church of Christ, Congregational in Newington. He held that position until his retirement in 1987. Rev. Clapp took a broad view of his ministry, reaching across racial lines to African-American churches in Portland and Middletown. He opposed expressions of nationalistic hatred common during World War II and encouraged his parishioners to support Christian missions in Africa and Asia. He arranged for the Portland church to host the leader of the African National Congress, Rev. Albert Luthuli, an early opponent of apartheid, during the South African leader's tour of the United States in the late 1940s. Throughout his long ministerial career, Rev. Clapp sustained an active interest in music. While in Portland, he organized a series of annual concerts featuring an interfaith choir that sang major choral works by Bach, Brahms, Mozart and Mendelssohn. Rev. Clapp was also a loyal Harvard alumnus, regularly attending reunions of the Class of '29 and serving as chaplain in his later years. He was an unwavering fan of Harvard football and the Boston Red Sox. Rev. Clapp leaves three children, Stephen Clapp of Reston, VA, David Clapp and his wife, Diane, of Sudbury, MA, and Nancy Clapp-Channing and her husband, Steven, of Durham, NC; five grandchildren, Emilia Clapp, Melissa Clapp Johnson, Kimberley Clapp, Wesley Clapp, and Laura Baecher; and three great-grandchildren, George Johnson, Anneliese Johnson, and Zachary Baecher. He was predeceased by his beloved wife and a brother, James Clapp, and sister, Elizabeth Clapp Munro. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a celebration of his life on May 7, at 2 p.m. at the Church of Christ, Congregational, 1075 Main Street, Newington. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to the First Congregational Church Music Fund, 554 Main St., Portland, CT, 06480 or the Church of Christ, Congregational Music Fund in Newington at the address above.