Irene C. Acker

Horsewoman Irene C. Acker died of Alzheimer’s disease on Aug. 10 in Wilmington, N.C. She was 93.

Mrs. Acker was born in New York City on June 25, 1920, and lived there and on Long Island until the early 1970s when she moved to the Tryon, N.C., area for access to more hunting country.

She dedicated most of her life to her equestrian pursuits and service to the equestrian community. In New York she was an active huntsman with the Smithtown Hunt, secretary to the North Shore Horse Show, and record keeper for the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden. Mrs. Acker was also a national steward for the better part of 40 years until 2006 when she officially retired.

While in North Carolina, Mrs. Acker was very active with the Tryon Hounds and became their first hilltop field master, a position she held for almost 20 years. In the 1970s she was also the official “hairnet hander-outer” for the Tryon Hounds.

She helped establish the Tryon Hounds Horse Show and Country Fair, which ran at Harmon Field and FENCE for 11 years.

Aside from her life with horses, Mrs. Acker was an ardent reader, gardener and animal lover. Her pool was one of her favorite places to be, reading and soaking up the sun.

Mrs. Acker is survived by her children, David Acker and his wife, Holly, of Wilmington, N.C.; Bruce Acker and his wife, Anna, of Shoreham, N.Y.; and Cynthia Cramer and her husband, Thomas, of Miller Place, N.Y.; as well as nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Tryon Hounds, P.O. Box 112, Tryon, NC 28782; the Long Island Museum, 1200 Rte. 25A, Stony Brook, NY 11790; and the Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center, 45 Park Avenue, Bay Shore, NY 11706.