Lexington, Kentucky – Kalarama Farm owner and 1997 American Saddlebred Horse Association Breeder’s Award winner Edwin Paul Hamilton, 85, of Springfield, Kentucky, passed away the evening of Saturday, July 23.
In the 1960s more than half of the 300 acres of Kalarama Farm in Springfield was sold to a land developer. Hamilton purchased the remaining 110-acres; his daughter and American Saddlebred Registry Director Joan Hamilton convinced her father to continue the tradition of Kalarama Farm that began in the early 1900s.
Notable stallions including Spring Valley’s Deliverance, Valley Stonewall, Lord O’Shea and Flame Of Greystone have stood at Kalarama Farm. Harlem Globetrotter, who has sired over 600 registered get, currently stands at the Springfield farm. Over 50 World’s Champions and Reserve World’s Champions have been bred, trained or sold from Kalarama. In 1989, Kalarama Farm was honored by the Commonwealth of Kentucky as a 100-year Outstanding Family Farm.
Aside from his extraordinary equine accomplishments, Hamilton was the president of Nally & Gibson Surfacing, president of the Bledsoe Coal Company, past president of the Kentucky Asphalt Association and served on the board of directors of First & Peoples Bank and the Washington County School Board. He was also a member of St. Dominic Catholic Church, a US Navy veteran of World War II and a lifetime member of the Knights of Columbus. In 1955, he served on the Building Committee of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Fredericktown, Kentucky, and served on the advisory board of St. Catharine College.
Survivors include three sons, Richard Paul “Richie” Hamilton of Louisville, James Everett “Jimmy” Hamilton of Lexington and Edwin K. Hamilton of Bardstown, Kentucky; five daughters, Norma Jean Smith and Joan Adelle Hamilton of Springfield, Mary Ruth Salem and Paula Bemiss of Louisville and Celeste Dawson of Bardstown; two brothers, Richard Hamilton of Fredericktown, Kentucky, and Bob Hamilton of Bardstown; two sisters, Helen Mudd of Lexington and Louise Nally of Fredericktown; as well as 20 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.
The funeral Mass will take place Wednesday, July 27 at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Springfield, Kentucky, with burial in St. Rose Cemetery. Visitation will began at 3 p.m. Tuesday, July 26, at Hale-Polin-Robinson Funeral Home; a prayer service will follow at the funeral home at 7 p.m.