Jon Marvin Clapp

Rev. Jon M. Clapp passed away on Nov. 16, 2024. He was the devoted husband of his wife of 61 years, Karen Baird Clapp, and beloved father to daughters Alisa Clapp-Itnyre and Amy Clapp Salmonson. He is also survived by sister Joanne (Clapp) Close; sons-in-law Ron Itnyre and David Salmonson; grandchildren Annetta Itnyre, Rebecca Salmonson, and Andrew Salmonson; and the Close family.

Jon Marvin Clapp was born on January 26, 1935, in Flint, Michigan, son of Herman and Luella Clapp, a city official and a teacher, respectively, who encouraged him and sister Joanne in their educational pursuits.  Jon’s academic interests were wide-ranging: he entered General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) to pursue engineering, then continued at Kalamazoo College for a B.A. in Philosophy.  Deciding to pursue the ministry in first the Baptist, then the United Methodist Church, he enrolled at Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, New York, then transferred to Oberlin College in 1961 while Karen Baird finished at the University of Michigan. He graduated with a Master’s of Divinity from Oberlin in 1963 and they were married on May 18, 1963.  They loved spending time together, traveling, and raising their two daughters, Alisa Marie, born on March 31, 1967, and Amy Megan, born June 1, 1971.  Jon served as an ordained minister at Nardin Park United Methodist Church from 1962-65, Lola Valley United Methodist Church from 1965-1972, and then as associate minister at Clarkston United Methodist Church 1972-2006.  Recognizing in himself a gift for counseling, he completed a second Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling from Wayne State University in 1971, and took a full-time position as a caseworker for Oakland County Juvenile Court, Pontiac, Michigan, from 1973-1998 while continuing to serve Clarkston UMC in a part-time capacity.  While there, Jon’s responsibilities included making ministerial visits, giving the weekly children’s sermons, teaching the Confirmation classes, and giving occasional sermons.  He also performed many weddings, baptisms, and funerals.  He officiated at both his daughters’ weddings (Alisa in 1996; Amy in 1999) to their immense appreciation. He also baptized his granddaughters Annetta May in 2002 and Rebecca Luella in 2004; and grandson Andrew Everett in 2008.

Jon was a caring, encouraging, and passionate person, touching the lives of countless children and adults through his work as caseworker and minister.  But the impact on his family was profound.  A life-long learner and one immersed in the arts, Jon taught himself–and became proficient in–everything from woodworking, macrame, painting, to photography (winning a prize for one of his nature photographs) and, later in life, astronomy.  He has a star (“Jon’s Mark”) named after him, a gift from Clarkston UMC. Jon was also a voracious reader and enjoyed sharing what he learned with others. Never having learned to play an instrument (he said he “played the record-player”), he was an amateur musicologist of classical music, teaching his young daughters about all the great composers, from Beethoven to Borodin.  He loved Broadway musicals, taking his family to see original-casts when they came to Detroit.  He also loved to sing, had a strong tenor voice, and sang in the Oakland Community Chorus for years, as well as the church choir.  His love of music extended to the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, which he and the family caught on annual visits to the Ontario Stratford Festival.

As a Methodist minister, Jon served as a guest speaker for a week in the early 1960s at the Lake Louise United Methodist Camp, Boyne Falls, Michigan. He and Karen then rented cottages along the lake for three decades, leading to purchasing their own in 2000 to which he added much of his woodworking and photography.  Jon also loved to travel and planned, with Karen, two especially unforgettable trips for the family: Out West upon Alisa’s high-school graduation in 1985, and Out East when Amy graduated in 1989.  As the family grew to include sons-in-law and grandchildren, Jon and Karen enjoyed trips with them to England, Hawaii, Glacier National Park, and Yosemite National Park. His grandchildren loved traveling, reading, and playing with him.

His patience, faith, and good humor continued to impress the younger generation and the many staff at LONRC where he spent the last 13 years of his life.  Jon will be deeply missed. Donations in his memory can be made to UMCOR (the United Methodist Committee on Relief: https://umcmission.org/umcor) or to the National Parks Conservation Association (www.npca.com).

A Celebration of Life service will be held 11:00am on Saturday, January 25, 2025 at Lake Orion United Methodist Church, 140 E. Flint St, Lake Orion, MI.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Sparks-Griffin Funeral Home in Lake Orion.