Funeral services for Ralph Crampton, 85, of Purcell will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, June 8, 2026 at the Purcell First Baptist Church. Interment will follow at Oxford Cemetery in Oxford, Kan., under the direction of the Wilson-Little Funeral Home in Purcell.
Mr. Crampton passed away peacefully on May 30, 2026.
Ralph Vance Crampton was born on August 27, 1940 in Arkansas City, Kansas, the youngest of five children born to Rutherford Valmore Crampton and Lola Viola (Trost) Crampton.
He was born and raised in Arkansas City, where he attended school and graduated with the Bulldog Class of 1958. Ralph was driven and dedicated to working hard every single day. His work ethic was truly unmatched. In fact, he started working at the age of 14, while he was still in school.
It was while he was driving a wheat truck that the love of his life first caught his eye, a young lady named Karen Lee Hogue, who was working at the grain elevator. The two quickly fell in love and were married on January 11, 1963, in Slate Valley Baptist Church near Oxford, Kansas. Together they raised three sons, Vance, Stacy and Derrick, and they lived in various towns in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma over the next 30 years before eventually settling down in Purcell in 1994.
His careers included being employed as a tool design engineer at Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas until 1970. While there, he designed a tool that was specifically used on the nose of the first space shuttle. He then began working for Sun Oil/Oryx in oil and gas production in Texas and Oklahoma until 1991. After a brief retirement, he joined the Department of Corrections in McAlester, Okla., as a guard before moving to Purcell as a fire and safety officer. Ralph fully retired in 2010.
In his free time, he enjoyed woodworking, vegetable gardening, grilling, trying out new diners, and traveling anywhere and everywhere with Karen. Ralph was a man of great faith and a follower of Jesus Christ. His love for Jesus truly showed in everything he did!
After settling down in Purcell, Ralph and Karen both became members of Purcell First Baptist Church where they served together. It didn’t take long to recognize that you couldn’t say Ralph without saying Karen, they did everything together. They sang in the church choir, they were on the funeral dinners and hospitality committee together, they helped with the church medical clinic, worked as volunteers on the Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief team and helped as substitutes on the McClain County Election Board. Ralph and Karen were devoted to each other, and devoted to serving others!
Ralph was known to be onery, quick witted and even a little sarcastic at times, but he was also very loving, generous, and caring. More than anything, Ralph was a family man. He loved spending time with his wife, Karen, his sons and their families, and later his grandchildren and great-grandchild. Nothing made him happier than being called Grandpa, Papa or Dad. Ralph truly was a one-of-a-kind man who will be missed immensely by all who knew and loved him.
He was preceded in death by his loving wife, Karen Crampton; parents, Rutherford and Lola Crampton; brother, Eric Crampton; sister, Vloyce Crampton; and two grandchildren, Lance and Leah.
Ralph is survived by his sons, Vance Crampton and wife, LaDonna, of Edmond, Stacy Crampton and wife, Elizabeth, of Bixby, and Derrick Crampton and wife, Julie, of Inlet Beach, Florida; two sisters, Jackie Maurer of Ontario, California, and Ruene Gage of Arkansas City, Kansas; six grandchildren, Kaylee Crampton, Kale Crampton and wife, Ashlee, Allison Johnson and husband, Kobe, Gabrielle Crampton, Jacob Crampton and wife, Abigayle, and Aidan Crampton; one great-grandchild, Ozzy, nieces, nephews, and a host of other family and friends.
Online condolences may be made at www.wilsonlittle.com.