Obituary: Norton Clapp, Life Trustee

Norton Clapp (Ph.B.'28, J.D.'29), philanthropist, industrialist and a Life Trustee of the University, died April 22 at his home in Medina, Wash. He was 89.

A former Weyerhaeuser timber company chairman and president, Clapp was among the Seattle industrialists who helped to build the Space Needle for the 1962 World's Fair. He was also a founder, in 1949, of the charitable Medina Foundation, which specializes in aiding the physically and mentally handicapped as well as assisting other charities.

Clapp was known for quietly contributing in countless ways to the community and to higher education. His contributions ranged from paying for a new bell tower at a local church to helping establish a law school at the University of Puget Sound, where he was a trustee for many years.

Clapp received his A.B. in 1928 from Occidental College and a Ph.B. from Chicago that same year. After receiving his J.D. in 1929 from Chicago, he practiced law in Tacoma, Wash., from 1929 to 1942, when he joined the Navy, serving until 1946.

In 1937, Clapp developed Lakewood Center, the first shopping center west of the Mississippi River, and in 1938 he joined the Weyerhaeuser company, which was founded in part by his grandfather. He later served at various times as chairman, president and chief executive officer of the company. He retired in 1976.

Clapp was elected to the University of Chicago Board of Trustees in 1957. He was named a Life Trustee in 1970.

Clapp served on the boards of several other companies and organizations, including Univar, Safeco, the Seattle-First National Bank and the Boy Scouts of America. Among the honors he received was the humanitarian award in 1973 from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline; three sons, Matthew, William and Stephen; four stepchildren, Linda Henry, Arthur Henry, Michela MacLeod and former Washington Gov. Booth Gardner; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.