The Reverend Theodore Lyman Clapp, (Ted), 99, of Camden, passed away peacefully at Quarry Hill in Camden on Aug. 19. He was born May 15, 1919 in Northhampton, Mass., the son of Richard and Ellen Clapp.
He was well loved in every community he graced, as he always reached out joyfully to others and made his town a better place. Ted appreciated all the arts, especially poetry, and wrote it himself. He was also a great lover of symphonic and other music, and a faithful attendee of numerous mid coast concerts and plays.
Ted was a graduate of Colgate University and Yale Divinity School. A WWII veteran, he served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947 as a chaplain aboard troop transport ships sailing to and from France and Japan. From 1947 until 1951 he was minister of the Congregational Church in Goffstown, N.H. and from 1951 until 1954 at the Old South Church in Boston, Mass. Mr. Clapp continued his education at Harvard University where he earned a Master’s degree in Education. He then worked as a guidance counselor in the Newton and Wellesley, Mass. schools until 1978. There he served on the Wellesley Town Budget Committee for several years.
Ted and his wife Eleanor moved to Maine in 1978. Ted took an active interest in his community, as president of both the Waldoboro Library board, and the Skidompha Library board in Damariscotta. He was a faithful member of the Second Congregational Church in Newcastle for many years, preaching occasionally as a summer supply minister. He was also a regular contributor to The Lincoln County News, and excerpts from his popular column, A View from The Bridge, were published in Ted’s 90s in two books entitled Tell Me About the River, and The Floating House and other Stories From the Coast of Maine. He was a keen observer of nature with a soul full of gratitude. His view was humane, kind, and a thoughtful reflection of not only what we are, but what we can be.
Ted’s first wife, Eleanor, passed away in 1998. His eldest son, David, died in 2016 and is survived by his wife, Carol. Ted’s second wedding was to Barbara Keyes, in 1999. She died in 2015 following a long illness.
Ted is survived by daughters, Susan and husband Richard Merrill of Brooksville, and Elise and husband Frank Ferrel of Bath; son, Lincoln and wife Melissa of Belfast; 11 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and his loving companion of 12 years, Sylvia Martin of Camden.
Ted was a positive thinker and an idealist. His goal in life was to appreciate the lives of others and to continually encourage them. He never thought of himself, only others. He celebrated the good in each person he touched.
A memorial service and celebration of Ted’s life will be held at 4 p.m., Fri., Sept. 7 at the Second Congregational Church in Newcastle with a reception following.
If desired, memorial gifts may be made to the Shield’s Mission Fund, c/o First Congregational Church UCC, 55 Elm St., Camden, ME 04843.
Condolences may be shared with the family at longfuneralhomecamden.com.
Arrangements are with the Long Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Camden.