Paul Bradley Clapp, 85, passed away on May 28, 2014. He grew up in Plumtree (Avery County), North Carolina. After serving as a Navy pilot during the Korean War, he graduated from Davidson College. Paul married Carolyn Phillips, and they settled in Knoxville, where he worked for many years at Miller’s, Paul Parrott’s, and Paul’s Fabrics. Like his Biblical namesake, he was a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ, faithfully serving as an officer and Sunday school teacher at First Presbyterian Church.
He was preceded in death by his parents, the Rev. TW Clapp and Nell Kesler Clapp, and siblings, Martha Hayes, Mary Stinson, and James Clapp. Paul is survived by his wife of 58 years; their four children, Bradley (Lisa), David (Kelly), Mary (Tim Schirm), and Charles (Tisha); fourteen grandchildren, Adam & Eli Clapp, Peyton, Emma, & Caleb Clapp, Margaret, Abigail, & Thomas Schirm, and Drew, Mary, Jasper, Mitchell, Marty, & Nora Clapp; four siblings, Helen Greene, Walton Clapp, Nell Smith, and Jean Isaacs, and their families.
The family will receive friends at Walnut Grove Presbyterian Church, 47 Bob Taylor Road, Newland, NC, on Sunday, June 1 beginning at 2:00pm. A funeral service and interment in the church cemetery will follow at 4:00pm.
Memorial gifts may be made to First Presbyterian Church, Knoxville, TN – Heritage, Heart & Hope Fund.
Published in Knoxville News Sentinel on May 30, 2014