W.R. Tapp, Member of Historic Family, Dies at 88

W.R. Tapp, a longtime architect and veteran whose father has a local middle school named after him and whose cousin started the Seven Springs Historical Society, died on Friday with his lone child by his side. He was 88.

“He lived a very rich life,” said Lowell Lovinggood, president of the historical society. The two had known each other for the entirety of Lovinggood’s life.

Tapp’s passing followed a brief illness, according to his obituary from Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home in Marietta.

Visitation is set for today from 2 to 4 p.m. and again at 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home at 180 Church St. Northeast. His memorial service is scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church at 189 Church St. in Marietta.

Memorials can be sent to the Salvation Army of Cobb County or the First Presbyterian Church, the obituary says.

“A true southern gentleman,” it reads, “he was ready with a smile and encouragement, always intent on making others feel at ease.”

William Roy “Bill” Tapp Jr. was born on May 21, 1922, in what’s now known as the Leake-Lovinggood House next to in downtown Powder Springs. Tapp’s grandfather, whose last name was Leake, built the house in 1913. 

The home was purchased by Lovinggood’s father in 1924.

“It’s kind of ironic,” said Lovinggood, 76. “Every time (Tapp and I) got together and talked, the subject would always come up that the two of us had something in common: We were both born in the same room of the same house.”

Following the Lovinggoods moving in, the Tapp family moved down Marietta Street to what is now known as the Tapp House.

Tapp grew up in a small-town atmosphere “that has largely vanished” from the country, his obituary reads. Ice houses, general stores, a two-room schoolhouse, chickens and a cow in the backyard—these were among the amenities available to he and his family at the time.

His father, William R. Tapp Sr., was a writer and realtor whom is named after. His mother, Estelle Catherine Leake Tapp, was the Powder Springs post office's postmistress for 35 years.

Tapp’s parents “instilled in him a great sense of pride in Cobb County and its history; a deep sense of loyalty and integrity; a love of learning and books; genuine humility; and a keen work ethic and frugality born of the Great Depression,” his obituary reads.

He graduated from high school in Powder Springs as the valedictorian of his 12-person senior class. Afterward, while still living at home, he commuted—usually by carpooling to Marietta, then taking a streetcar to Atlanta—to Georgia Tech to receive his education in architecture.

Upon his 1943 graduation, his obituary says, he went to work for the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, CA as an engineering draftsman. There, B-17 Flying Fortresses were constructed for World War II, Boeing’s website says.

Tapp joined the Navy in 1945 and was aboard a ship in San Francisco on Victory in Japan Day. His boat was leading a carrier that was transporting veterans of the Bataan Death March—a Japanese forced march that resulted in the deaths of between 7,000 and 10,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war—to a ceremony.

He finished his service with the rank of lieutenant junior grade, his obituary says.

Along with a classmate, Tapp began his architectural career by starting Atlanta Drafting Service in 1947.

While working in Valdosta in 1950 with Joe Bright, who aided in the renovation of colonial Williamsburg, he met his future wife of 46 years, Frances Paine, on a blind date, his obituary says.

“Following their marriage and move to Marietta in 1953, he partnered with a fellow (Georgia) Tech architect to establish an architecture firm, whose first major project was (the) design of the initial campus and buildings of what is now Southern Polytechnic State University,” it reads.

He started his own firm, William R. Tapp Jr. Architect & Associates, in 1954. The business would remain open for almost 50 years and assist in the construction of many different facilities in Cobb County and across the area.

Lovinggood, who was on the building committee of the in Powder Springs in the ‘60s, recalled working with Tapp on the church’s expansion. 

“W.R. was always pretty precise in the things he did,” he said. “He was a very easy guy to work with.”

Tapp was raised in the First Baptist Church but had been a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Marietta since 1954, his obituary says.

Tapp was heavily involved in community activities outside of his architecture work. Among other things, he was on the advisory board of the Cobb County Salvation Army for more than four decades, served on the Marietta YMCA’s advisory board, was part of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee, and was on the Marietta Board of Zoning Appeals and the Cobb Recreation Authority.

He was also appointed by Gov. Joe Harris, who was governor from 1983 to 1991, to the state Health Planning Review Board.

Lovinggood said Tapp's contributions, both money and antique household items once used by his mother, have been invaluable to the . Tapp was awarded the historical society’s Historical Legacy Award in 2006.

A love for jazz music, dancing skills, and being a devoted husband and father are among the things Tapp will be remembered for, his obituary says.

He is preceded in death by his parents; his half-sister, Margaret Virginia Tapp; his wife; and his cousin, Sarah Frances Miller, who started the Seven Springs Historical Society in 1982.

He is survived by his only child, Helen Preston Tapp Montgomery; son-in-law Jim Montgomery of Atlanta; and a sister-in-law, Dorothy Dalton Paine of Valdosta. 

He is also survived by cousins, nieces, nephews and other relatives.

“His commitment to family is mirrored in their admiration and love of him,” his obituary reads.