Matthew Norton Clapp (April 15, 1906 – April 22, 1995) was a successful businessman, and eventually served as chairman of the

Weyerhaeuser The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

Corporation. He was active in civic service and a philanthropist.

Early life and career

Clapp was born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. He was named for his maternal grandfather Matthew G. Norton, a

Winona, Minnesota Winona ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota, United States. Located in bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf (Winona, Minnesota), Sugar Loaf. The population was 2 ...

lumberman who via the Laird, Norton Company was to help finance the Weyerhaeuser purchase of land in Washington State in 1900. Clapp received an A.B. from

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

and a Ph.B in 1928 from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and a J.D. from Chicago in 1929. He practiced law in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

from 1929 until 1942. He was among the developers of Lakewood Colonial Center in 1937 in what is now Lakewood, WA.City of Lakewood History - lakewoodhistorical.org
/ref> It was one of the first shopping centers west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. In 1938, he converted an existing structure into the Lakewood Ice Arena. He became a trustee of the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1888. The institution offers a variety of undergraduate degrees as well as five graduate programs in counseling, education, oc ...

in 1933 and would serve there until his death including being chairman from 1967 until 1986. In 1938 he began his career with Weyerhauser. He joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and served until 1946 when he returned to Weyerhauser. In 1947 he succeeded his father as a director of the company. He was its president from 1960 to 1966 and chairman until 1970.

Civic service and community builder and investor

In 1949 he was a founder of the Medina Foundation, which provides charitable grants in the greater Puget Sound area. He was named to the Trustees of University of Chicago in 1957 and was named a Life Trustee in 1970. In 1961 he joined

Bagley Wright Bagley Wright (April 13, 1924 – July 18, 2011) was an American real estate developer and philanthropist. He was president of Bagley Wright Investments, was a developer of Seattle's landmark Space Needle and chair of Physio Control Corp. from 1 ...

, contractor Howard S. Wright, architect John Graham, and financier Ned Skinner as investors in the Pentagram Corporation which was to build and own the

Space Needle The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a List of Seattle landmarks, Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, Lower Queen An ...

for the

1962 World's Fair The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington, United States.Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

for several decades. In 1963 he donated the land around Mount Baldy, New Mexico to the Scouts, and this property was added to

Philmont Scout Ranch Philmont Scout Ranch is a ranch located in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States, near the village of Cimarron. Donated by oil baron Waite Phillips, the ranch is owned by Scouting America. It is a high adventure base where crews of Scouts ...

. From 1971 to 1973, he served as national president of the BSA.

Personal life

Clapp married several times and had many children, including three sons whom he outlived. His second wife Evelyn and stepdaughter Gail Gardner were killed in an

airplane crash An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...

near

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

, in 1951. Evelyn's son

Booth Gardner William Booth Gardner (August 21, 1936 – March 15, 2013) was an American politician who served as the 19th governor of Washington from 1985 to 1993. He also served as the ambassador of the GATT. A member of the Democratic Party, Gardner previ ...

was the state's

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

from 1985 to 1993, and Clapp contributed $91,000 to his first gubernatorial campaign. He married his son Jim's ex-wife Jacquie in 1984. When he died at his

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

home on April 22, 1995, Clapp's fortune was estimated at $450 million by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clapp, Norton Philmont Scout Ranch Businesspeople from Pasadena, California University of Chicago alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni Weyerhaeuser 1906 births 1995 deaths Businesspeople from Tacoma, Washington People from Medina, Washington Presidents of the Boy Scouts of America