Eleanor M Ames

She was born in Portland, ME on December 18, 1921 to George and Elizabeth Gorwood and was the first of six children.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Philip Parland Ames, and by a daughter Anita and by a son Alan.

She is survived by three children, her daughter Rosalie Phillips, wife to Terry Phillips both of Scott City, KS; her daughter Louise Megargee, wife to Richard Megargee, both of Marietta, GA; and her son Philip Ames, husband to Sue Ames, both of Augusta, GA. She also is survived by her nine grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren and twelve great-great grandchildren.

She married her husband, Philip, on January 17, 1942 shortly after Pearl Harbor and before he left to start his military service. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1992. With her husband in the army for 44 years, she traveled all over the world, living in Japan, Turkey, and Germany. She was very involved in civic organizations wherever she lived, working as a Gray Lady for the Red Cross in Japan during the Korean War. She taught English in Japan and later in Turkey.

They lived in eight states before settling in North Augusta in 1962. She was a faithful member at Curtis Baptist Church and was in charge of their nursery program for years. She was very active in their women's auxiliary programs and went on several missions trip, including one to Romania when she was 80.

She got her bachelors degree from the University of South Carolina, Aiken, at the age of 50. In the 1970s, she started the University Hospital daycare and was its first director. She held that position for years until her retirement. She promptly decided that retirement wasn’t enough excitement for her and got a job as a greeter at the Walmart in North Augusta.

Not one to sit still, one of the highlights of her life was skydiving at age 78. She informed her family of her jump after the fact. She kept the picture of her tandem dive next to her bed and loved to tell visitors and friends about her jump. Wanting to top that, in her 80s she picked up riding motorcycles. There were rumors of her riding at unsafe and illegal speeds down country roads as she sat on the back of the bike and thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Throughout her life, she loved visits from her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, she requested that donations be sent to the Curtis Baptist mission fund in her memory. More info can be found at: http://curtisbc.org/how-to-give/

Funeral services will be 2 PM Sunday, September 3, 2017 at the Columbia Road chapel of Elliott Sons Funeral Home. The family will be receiving friends at 1 PM until the service hour. Interment will follow at Sunset Memory Gardens in Graniteville, SC.