Family of Odenville man mourn his murder

Michael Clapper was founded murdered in a vacant office Monday in Odenville.

By: Jon Paepcke | Alabama's13.com
Published: February 04, 2009

ODENVILLE, Ala. --- The family of a murdered Odenville man remembered him Wednesday as handyman who would help anyone he could.

Michael Clapper’s sisters told NBC13 he never met a stranger and enjoyed making people laugh.

So news Monday that he was murdered at a vacant Odenville office off Highway 174 was devastating.

“I'm just going to miss everything, there's not just one certain thing. I'm just going to miss everything. Everything, there's nothing I'm not going to miss,” sister June Hodges said Wednesday in Odenville.

Clapper was doing some painting at one of the offices for an incoming tenant.

Sitting hand-in-hand with their aunt this afternoon his sisters say the 46 year old never met a project he couldn't tackle.

“He did painting he did carpentry, he did roofing. Oh my goodness, he would do whatever he had to do,” Hodges recalled.

Investigators say Clapper's murder was Odenville's first in over half a decade.

So far, no arrests have been made.

Hodges believes the person responsible will be caught, and has a message for those who might take their loved ones for granted.

Treat everybody like it might be the last time you see him. That's my motto. Because that might be the last time you see them,” Hodges concluded.

Clapper was single without any children.

His funeral services are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Saturday at the Kilgore Funeral Home in Leeds.