John S Ames

CUMBERLAND – Lt. Col. (Ret.) John S. Ames, 89, passed away peacefully on Jan. 13, 2018, one month shy of his 90th birthday. John was born in Wareham, MA on Feb. 12, 1928, a son of George F. and Ella J. (Snell) Ames and a veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

John graduated from Wareham High School in 1946 and married Elsbeth “Beth” Childs Ryder, also of Wareham, on Sept. 25, 1948. Together they enjoyed a lifetime of adventure and made many long-lasting friendships.

Enlisting in the US Army in 1946, John rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring in June 1968. He attended Officers’ Candidate School in Fort Riley, KS, before going to Germany for three years, where his wife Beth and son John joined him and son Bill was born. The young family was then stationed in Fort Knox, KY, before Capt. Ames attended the Army Language School in Monterey, CA, where he studied Chinese. After being stationed in Fort Bragg, NC, John was sent to Taiwan where he used his Chinese language skills, and the family had many adventures that affected their lives forever. Major Ames was then stationed in Fort Hood, TX at the time of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was a tense time, and he was ready to go to war at a moment’s notice. After Fort Hood, he was sent to Vietnam as a military advisor, leaving his family here in the US. In June 1964, he returned to the US and became the US Army advisor to the Maine National Guard where an important part of his job was to notify next of kin and work closely with families of soldiers who had died in Vietnam. He received a Bronze Star and citation for meritorious achievement in recognition of his service in Vietnam.

After working in a few short-term civilian jobs, John started his second career in partnership with his son “Jay” who had just begun Crossroads Equipment (now Ames Farm Center) in the center of North Yarmouth. People recount memories of John throwing a 100-pound bag of grain on his shoulder or asking their children to hop on top of the grain bags loaded on the hand truck as he delivered feed to their cars. Customers loved to come to the store and listen to John’s stories and jokes…and he had plenty of them!

John was genuinely interested in people. He started conversations with strangers, asked them their names, figured out their ancestry, and explored what they might have in common. He was an in-depth family genealogist, tracing his ancestry back to the early 1600’s and working closely with his niece Lynda Ames of Wareham who shared his love of genealogy and history. John was a voracious reader of Civil War history and enjoyed traveling to the various Civil War battlefields, especially Gettysburg.

A highlight of Bill and his father’s shared love of travel was a 2013 trip to England to visit the Ames’ ancestral home and then the beaches of Normandy where the D-Day landing occurred and where John’s oldest brother Eddie had been a soldier. After John had retired, he and Beth took trips to Portugal and Spain to visit Bill and Helen, and to Germany to revisit some of their favorite spots. On Nov. 1, 2015, John felt fortunate to fly with Honor Flight New England to Washington, DC, where all the veterans on the trip were pampered, entertained, and truly honored for their service. He proudly wore the jacket he received as a remembrance of this memorable “day” trip.

John was an active member of American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Social Harmony Masonic Lodge of Wareham, MA. Many a holiday weekend, you could see John selling poppies outside the grocery store and talking to passersby. He was active in other veterans’ activities, such as preparing the casket flags for flying over Yarmouth’s village green. John also served his local community as a member of the Cumberland County Extension Board, Wescustogo Grange No. 27, North Yarmouth Historical Society, and other boards and town committees. He was a big 4H supporter and looked forward to presenting awards at the Cumberland Fair. John was a charitable and generous person.

In recent years, John kept up his social life by going out to breakfast, frequenting Clayton’s Café in Yarmouth with a group of fascinating conversationalists from all walks of life. He was also well-known at Stone’s Café and Toddy Brook Café, both in North Yarmouth. John has left a big void as his friends span the globe, but most are concentrated in the Cumberland-North Yarmouth-Yarmouth area. His “bear hugs” and big heart will be sorely missed.

John is survived by his sons, John S. Ames II and his wife Pamela (Candage) of North Yarmouth, ME and William R. Ames and his wife Helen (Wattley) of Seattle, WA; his grandchildren, Jennifer C. A. Kimball and her husband J. Todd of North Yarmouth, ME and Jeremy W. Ames and his wife Tracy A. (Miner) of Chebeague Island, ME; his great-grandchildren, Diana J. Kimball, Alissa S. Ames, and Sophia E. Ames and several nieces and nephews, including Lynda E. Ames with whom he shared a love of family history. In addition to his parents, John was predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Elsbeth “Beth” Ames (2012), his brothers Edwin Ames (1995) and George F. Ames Jr. (1994), and his sister, Virginia Eloise Ames (2014).

A Celebration of John’s Life will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, Feb. 12, 2018 (which would have been his 90th birthday) at the First Congregational Church, 3 Gray Rd, North Yarmouth, with a reception to follow in its Fellowship Hall. John will be placed in his final resting place, complete with military honors, in the spring of 2018 at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Rte 115, North Yarmouth, Maine.

Memorial donations in John’s name may be made to North Yarmouth Historical Society, 10 Village Square Rd, North Yarmouth ME 04097 or Skyline Farm, PO Box 144, Yarmouth ME 04096.

John’s family would like to thank Mercy Cardiology’s team approach and compassionate staff in Portland as well as Mercy Express Care in Yarmouth for their caring and responsive staff while taking care of John.

Please visit www.lindquistfuneralhome.com to share your condolences and memories with John’s family and friends.