Individual Details

The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon, Monday, July 6, 1992, Fourth Edition, Page C08: A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday in First Baptist Church for Elsie Wilhemina Steinfeld Ames, who died of causes related to age Saturday in a Tualatin hospital. She was 91. Mrs. Ames was born in Portland on July 12, 1910. She quit school at age 12 to assist her parents in the family pickle and sauerkraut business that became Steinfeld Products, and she worked for a time in the Steinfeld's stand in Portland's old Farmers' Market on Southwest Yamhill Street. She married Arthur G. Ames in Portland in 1931. The couple eventually opened a grocery, delicatessen and drug store on North Fessenden Street in St. Johns that they ran from 1939 until the late 1940s. Mr. Ames then entered the real estate business and was co-owner of the Schmuckli and Ames brokerage in Northeast Portland. Mrs. Ames began a catering business in her Alameda home and eventually concentrated on making and selling fruitcakes. When the couple moved to Tigard in 1952, Mrs. Ames had a room in the home designed to accommodate a bakery. For several years she produced fruitcakes on contract for Pinnacle Orchards in Medford and one year baked 20,000 pounds of fruitcake. From 1961 until 1991, she operated a Christmas gift shop in her home. In the summer months, she sold peaches from her four-acre orchard at a roadside stand and to local businesses. An active member of First Baptist Church, she cooked for Wednesday night social dinners at the church during the 1960s. Survivors include daughter, Virginia Johnson of Tigard; sons, Robert of Tigard, and Gary of Englewood, Colo.; brother, Ray Steinfeld Sr. of Scappoose; eight grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter. Her husband died in 1976 [1975]. Disposition will be by cremation. The family requests that remembrances be contributions to either the Salvation Army or First Baptist Church.

Birth	12 Jul 1910	Portland, Clackamas Co., Oregon
Marriage	1931	Portland, Clackamas Co., Oregon - Arthur Gordon Ames
Death	4 Jul 1992	Clackamas Co., Oregon
Burial		Cremated

Spouse

Arthur Gordon Ames (1908 - 1975)