Ronald Clapp

Ronald E. Clapp, 68, of McGrew, died Saturday, February 26, 2022 at his home with his loving family by his side. A graveside service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at High Butte Cemetery near McGrew with Pastor Mike Clement officiating. A celebration of life will follow at 1 p.m. at Anchor Baptist Church in Scottsbluff. Memorials may be made in care of the family. The graveside service will be livestreamed and recorded to Ron’s obituary page viewable at www.reverencefuneralparlor.com.

Ron was born a Nebraska boy on August 4, 1953 in Grant. He developed a “farmer’s heart” at ten years old when he began his first job helping on his Grandpa Keller’s farm near Grant. He graduated from Sidney High School in 1971. Ron worked on the construction of I-80 following graduation and then at Colorado Beef. He was later employed by Sterling Industrial Welding where he grew skills that eventually crafted him into a master fabricator and machinist.

Ron married Edna M. Moss on September 15, 1973 in Bridgeport. They lived in Sterling one year before moving to The Valley, where two sons were born, Greg and Adam. The family made their home in McGrew in the early eighties. Ron was very involved in the McGrew community and served as Mayor for some time.

Ron had a seventeen-year long career working at Lockwoods before he began working for BNSF Railroad the next twenty-three years. He also owned and operated his own business, Ron’s Welding and Repair, during that time.

He was a self-proclaimed gearhead. Ron loved old cars and motorcycles and even hand-built an award-winning trike. He had a special appreciation for horsepower, but was also a horse-whisperer. Maybe it started from his younger years spent on ranches in the Sandhills, but Ron had a way of understanding and connecting with horses.

Ron was active in his church, previously serving as a deacon as well as a Sunday school teacher. He helped anyone who ever asked him for help and was a friend to everyone who he met. He enjoyed telling stories under the “Who-Hut” at his home where he never ran out of iced tea for those who joined him. Family was first and foremost to Ron and he had a big embrace for all.

Survivors include his wife, Edna; sons, Greg (Emily) and Adam (Sue); six grandchildren; mother, Lydian; father, Harold; twelve siblings: Steve, Cheri, Kathy, Tina, Cecil, Mary, Tim, Jack, Cherrie, Frog, Ed, and Tony; and four brothers-in-law and one sister-in law of Edna’s family.

He was preceded in death by his paternal and maternal grandparents; two grandbabies; biological father, George; and step-mother, Carol.