Wendy Anne Clapp
Wendy Anne Clapp was born in Hollywood, California, to Richard and Elaine Walt on November 15, 1939. Her life was filled with lots of love and laughter!
Starting in Sherman Oaks, she attended Westlake Girls School and later moved to Santa Barbara with her mother, grandmother Baba, stepfather William Lee, and two brothers, Tim and Jeff Lee. She graduated from Santa Barbara High as a Don, and while playing King of the Raft on Hope Ranch Beach, met her husband-to-be, Walt Clapp.
Before marrying him, she became a passionate Pi Beta Phi, graduated with a BA from UCSB, and became an elementary school teacher with her two lifelong friends, Alice and Anne.
The highlight of her life was becoming a mother to Doug and Jill, a Gamma to Antoine, Alex, Andre, Jarin, and Calen, and a great-Gamma to Mark, while later welcoming Christina, Rafic, and Helena into the family fold. She took mothering and Gamma’ing to the next level while moving around the country from coast to coast, with stops in the Midwest, supporting Walt’s career!
She shared her artistic and creative talents in painting, flower arranging, knitting, and needlepointing along the way, working at the premier flower shop Bachman’s and raising money for organizations close to her heart. She was especially proud to volunteer at Transition House Auxiliary when she and Walt moved back to retire in Santa Barbara in 2004. She became president and led a highly successful Mad Hatter fundraiser, as well as finding a real-life Santa at Christmas for the kids with her two dear friends, Mimi and Florence!
Walt and Wendy embraced being back in Santa Barbara and were very active in Newcomers, Westerners, and La Cumbre Country Club, just to name a few, before Walt’s death in 2022.
Adventures were not over for her, though. With Evelyn’s support giving her an extra boost of energy, Wendy continued to enjoy life to the fullest. In 2023, she met Bud Katter, went on her first river cruise on the Mississippi, and happily enjoyed her last years with him at Maravilla.
She will be missed by many and remembered for her style, intellect, kindness sense of humor, hosting of many a gathering, and the love that she shared with her family, her cat Ruby, and her friends!
