Ralph “Edd” Bottom (Photo courtesy Swearingen Funeral Home)A finalist at the first National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity in 1962, and an Open Reserve Champion rider at the 1980 NCHA Futurity, Ralph Edward “Edd” Bottom, 88, Asher, Okla., died Wednesday, April 24, in Tecumseh, Okla.Born Feb. 1, 1925 in Lake Valley, Okla., to Shannon Brewer Bottom and Ella Belle (Taylor) Bottom, Edd Bottom married the former Lillie Marie Reinschmeidt on Feb. 20, 1943 in Bessie, Okla., in the middle of a wheat field. The life-long horse trainer and rancher was a longtime NCHA member and a member of the American Quarter Horse Association, Southern Oklahoma Cutting Horse Association, Central Oklahoma Cutting Horse Association and Western Oklahoma Cutting Horse Association.
Bottom was inducted into the NCHA Members Hall of Fame in 1997. (Photo courtesy Swearingen Funeral Home)qualified several other cutting horses for limited-age and any-age finals. In 1997, the NCHA inducted Bottom into its Members Hall of Fame.He is survived by one son, Eddie Wayne Bottom and wife, Charlotte, Macomb, Okla.; three daughters, Darla Miles and husband, Steve, Asher, Okla., Connie Wartchow and husband, Ronnie, Roff, Okla., and Phyllis Sisco and husband, Richard Asher, Okla.; eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Bottom was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Lillie, one daughter, Charlotte Ann Bottom, and nine brothers and sisters.
Visitation continues Sunday, April 28, 1-5 p.m. at Swearingen Funeral Home, Konowa, Okla. Funeral services are scheduled to start at 1 p.m., Monday, April 29, at the Agri-Plex in Ada, Okla. Donnie Gee and Shannon Hall will officiate. Burial will follow at Vista Cemetery.
