Clara Tapp, 90, was born June 11, 1929 in Stroud, Oklahoma to Joseph and Emma Patterson. Clara was raised in and around Oklahoma. When her family moved to California, she met and married Leo Tapp, who preceded her in death in 2008. Clara raised her family in California and then moved back to Oklahoma with her husband to try their hand at farming. She was an excellent cook and always did a lot of canning. She sewed clothes for all her girls and sometimes the boys. She worked at Trade Winds West in Tulsa for a few years, cleaning rooms; then she was hired on at Bank Note Printing in the bindery department and stayed until she retired. Clara and Leo retired on 10 acres in Deer Wood Trails south of Kellyville, Oklahoma, where they lived for over 35 years and helped to raise a passel of grandkids, who all loved it out there and stayed with grandma and grandpa whenever they had the chance. Clara moved to Pryor, Oklahoma for about 10 years, after her husband’s death, to be close to her daughter and then resided in the Parkhill Salina Care Center for the last year-and-a-half.
Clara was preceded in death by her husband; Leo Tapp; son; Ernie L. Tapp; daughter; Debra Tapp Riggs; daughter; Sabrina Tapp Hancock Mitchel; parents: Joseph and Emma Patterson; 1 sister; Sybil Sweeden; and 6 brothers; Clarence Patterson, Frank Patterson, Earl Patterson, Ralph Patterson, Calvin Patterson, and Wes Patterson. Clara is survived by her children: daughter; Carolyn Tapp Cay of Salina, son Rodney Tapp and wife Teresa of Proctor, Ok., son Michael Tapp and wife Pam of Pru, Oklahoma; 20 grandchildren; 42 great grandchildren.
Funeral Services are scheduled at Lexington Road Family Church on Thursday, August 1st at 1:00 pm with burial in Green Hill Memorial Gardens. Visitation is scheduled on Wednesday from 4-8 pm at Green Hill Funeral Home.
