Blake, Stacey (Shannon)

Surname Index
Updated: 08 Sep 2009

Daily Oklahoman, The
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
September 22, 1990, page 7

BLAKE Stacey Shannon, 45. Stacey met her Lord Sept. 20, 1990, after being involved in a horse riding accident. She was born Aug. 7, 1945, in Wichita, KS. Stacey was an active member of the United Methodist Church of Nichols Hills, where she taught Sunday School and presented a puppet ministry. She was the founder of ""Creative Equest'', a non-profit organization formed to teach therapeutic riding to children who are handicapped, or have learning disabilities. Stacey graduated from Harding High School, and the University of Oklahoma. She was a certified instructor from Cheff Center Riding for the Handicapped, Michigan. She was a member of the Junior League and Kappa Alpha Theta.

Survivors include her husband, Joe R.; son, Jeff, 18; and daughter, Shannon, 16. Also her mother, Ginger Schraeder; and stepfather, Jack Schraeder, Sun City, AZ; mother-in-law, Ragna E. Blake, Pauls Valley, OK; sister, Kathy Berger, Indianapolis, IN; brother, Doug Shannon, Manhattan Beach, CA; aunts, Mrs. Donald Stewart, Olathe, KS, and Mrs. Sam P. Wallingford, Wichita, KS; and 3 nieces. Tax deductible memorials may be made to ""Creative Equest'' to help the fulfillment of Stacey's dreams to give opportunity to deserving children. 6406 Lenox, OKC, 73116.

Services Saturday, Sept. 22, 10:00 A.M. at the United Methodist Church of Nichols Hills. Directed by Hahn-Cook/ Street & Draper. Burial Rose Hill Cemetery.

I also found this information (see image below) at http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ok/oklahoma/cemeteries/rosehill1.txt

Daily Oklahoman, The
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
September 28, 1990, page 1

Death Ends Horsewoman's Outreach to Children

Early this year, Stacey Blake laid hand puppets aside for horses as a way to reach out to children.

Although a riding accident ended the north Oklahoma City resident's life last week, it was not before she had used her experience with horses to help several children rebuild broken lives, said her husband, Joe.

Stacey, 45, loved to work with children and ride horses, Joe said from the north Oklahoma City office of his business, Taylor Oklahoma.

So she put aside the puppets she had used for several years in ministry at Nichols Hills United Methodist Church and began giving riding lessons to youths in need of therapy, he said.

""Her love was to share herself with children to develop their inner selves, by sharing her love of horses,'' he said.

The confidence children gained by learning to control a horse carried over into their everyday lives, he said. Psychiatrists, psychologists and special-education teachers referred children to Stacey Blake for help.

This year, after receiving certification as a riding instructor, she founded Creative Equests, a non-profit organization formed to teach therapeutic riding to children who are handicapped or have learning disabilities.

But her work came to a tragic halt.

On Sept. 18, she was training her 6-year-old saddlebred horse, King's Image, at the Hallmark Stables near Memorial Road and Bryant when the bit broke, leaving her without reins, Joe Blake said.

The spirited, 1,500-pound horse ran out of control toward a concrete slab. Stacey held on until the horse's shoes struck the hard concrete. As the horse tried to turn, horse and rider went down.

Stacey struck her head on the concrete at the equivalent of 60 mph, he said. She was taken to Mercy Health Center, where she died Sept. 20.

King's Image, who was not injured, will be sold, Joe Blake said. ""She would not have wanted him to be destroyed,'' he said.

Vivian Adler, the mother of two children who took riding lessons from Stacey, praised the woman's influence.

Adler said she turned to Stacey to help Stephanie, 10, and Adam, 9, deal with the loss of their father, who died of cancer in 1986.

Adler said the children wanted to take riding lessons, and she thought it would be good therapy. But they didn't have a horse. So Stacey bought a horse named Sosh for $25 from a boys ranch for the kids to ride, Adler said.

""Stacey was a very disciplined person. She always told the kids, "Don't give up.' She was able to combine determinaton with a lot of love,'' Adler said.

""She was able to take two kids whose self-worth had been jerked away from them and really help them heal,'' Adler said.

Stacey Blake's words echo in the Adler children's minds, and they will continue riding, their mother said.

Stacey was born in Wichita, Kan., and moved to Oklahoma City as a teen-ager. She graduated from Harding High School in 1963 and met Joe Blake at the University of Oklahoma. They married in 1968, after he returned from Vietnam. Her survivors include their son, Jeff, 18, and daughter, Shannon, 16, a Bishop McGuinness High School junior.

The demands of motherhood kept Stacey from horses until 1982, her husband said. She then worked at the Peggy Richardson Stables in Edmond.

At Creative Equests, Stacey toiled for no pay, with volunteer helpers. One of those volunteers, Robbin Harkey, 19, said she wants to keep Creative Equest alive.

Joe Blake said he is looking at ways to keep the program going. ""I am going to do my best to sustain it.''

But he said he realizes it will be hard to replace a woman who worked 11 hours a day six days a week for no pay and gave as much attention to children as Stacey did.

Donations can be sent to Creative Equest... Oklahoma City 73116.

Sources: good faith fair use of sources stated above

Compiled by Marti Graham, Oklahoma County, OKGenWeb Coordinator, October 2007. Information posted for educational purposes for viewers and researchers. The contributor is not related to nor researching any of the above.

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