Obituary – Ada Burns Crampton
Monday, August 3, 2015
We are saddened to report the passing of Ada Burns Crampton. Ada was a well known figure on the Illinois and Wisconsin horse show circuit over a period of four decades. Ada and her daughter Janet began their love for the American Saddlebred at Bob Levy’s Harmswood Stables in Morton Grove, IL.
It was at Harmswood that they became acquainted with trainer Richard Obenauf. Both mother and daughter rode under Dick’s direction for many years. Janet was the Saddle and Bridle Pleasure Equitation Medallion Grand Champion at St. Louis riding the handsome bay, Kourageous Karl. The horse’s name was later changed to Synchronicity upon being sold. Other horses that became family members to Ada were the pleasure mare My American Melody, who was a full sister to the champion three gaited mare, CH Blush of Dawn being by American Revelation and out of the top producing mare, My Irish Melody who was the dam of such show ring winners as CH Moraine’s Question Mark and Night Fever, amongst others. Ada purchased the mare for Janet, at first, but once Janet moved on to other horses and to do some catch-riding for Dick and other trainers, the mare became Ada’s personal pleasure mount. She owned the mare until her passing, having purchased her at the age of 7.
After Janet aged out of the juvenile division and she had decided to pursue the horse business as a professional and off doing internships and as longtime assistant trainer to Edward Bennett, Ada purchased herself her next show ring mount. That horse was the Mountain Highland Memories daughter, Making Memories. Ada and the mare were frequent visitors to the show ring at all the northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin shows, again under the direction of Richard Obenauf Stables. She showed Making Memories from about 1987 until 1992, at which time Ada retired from show ring riding.
However, that didn’t keep Ada away from the horse shows. For more than a twenty year period, she was the sponsorship chairperson for the Illinois American Saddlebred Pleasure Horse Association. You could rest assured that you would annually hear from Ada for your support of the IASPHA shows, and more specifically the National Pleasure Horse Show.
Ada was very proud of her daughter Janet’s accomplishments as a professional and that pride was returned by Janet who named her own business “Burnscroft Farm” which was derived from her mother’s maiden name, “Burns”.
Ada and her husband of 63 years, Arthur Crampton, were longtime residents of Lawndale Avenue in Chicago’s northern suburb of Evanston. Ada was a native of Louisiana, Missouri. She was 88 years of age at the time of her passing on July 7th, 2015.
There will be a memorial service in Ada’s honor to be held at the Park Ridge Country Club in Park Ridge, IL on September 1st, 2015.
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