Kenneth Claypool, 96, Dies; Orange Pioneer, Civic Activist

Kenneth M. Claypool, an Orange pioneer and member of the city’s Old Towne Steering Committee who helped put the town’s plaza on the National Register of Historic Places, died at age 96 after a brief illness.

Claypool remained active and involved in civic affairs until shortly before his death Sunday at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. He was a bowler and arranged trips for senior citizens through the First United Methodist Church of Orange.

In 1994, Claypool was awarded the Captain William T. Glassell Award for service in preserving Orange’s local heritage. He was well known around Old Towne Orange and witnessed the transformation of the city from grain fields in 1908 to a commercial hub of orange groves to the city it is today.

“The historical society would call for him and say, ‘We have a photo here. Is this correct?’ ” said his daughter, Virginia Claypool-Lingren, of La Mesa.

Born in Missouri, Claypool moved with his family to San Francisco and then to Orange in 1908. As a 10-year-old newsboy, he awaited the trains that carried his supply of newspapers from Los Angeles to the city’s Santa Fe rail depot and sold them there for a salary of $6 a month.

After graduating from Orange Union High School, he served in the Army during World War I.

Claypool worked for Standard Oil in Santa Ana, Anaheim and Hollywood and then opened his own business, Claypool’s Bakery, in Orange.

Intrigued by radio and television as they developed, Claypool started selling sets from the bakery and then founded Claypool’s Radio.

Active throughout his life with his wife, Neva, in the First United Methodist Church of Orange, Claypool organized the XYZ Club there in 1970 to organize tours for senior citizens. In his later years, Claypool planned and led more than 700 trips for the group.

Claypool-Lingren said her father was organizing four tours when he was hospitalized July 26 with an infection. He also taught Sunday school for the ministry.

Claypool also leaves a son, Ken, and daughter-in-law, Dorothy, of Carlsbad; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and three sisters, Emma Moore Weston of Turner, Ore., and Gladys Dole and Hester Robinson, both of Westminster.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 9 at the First United Methodist Church of Orange. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Claypool Memorial Ministerial Education Fund of the church, 161 S. Orange St., Orange, 92666.