GLENDIVE, MONTANA: LeRoy Adelbert Ames, age 82, died on Thursday, August 14, 2008 at his home in Glendive. Visitation will be held from 3:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M., Sunday, August 17, 2008, and from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M., Monday, August 18, 2008, at the Chapel of the Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home in Glendive. Funeral services will be held on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 2:00 P.M. at Zion Lutheran Church of Glendive with Pastor David Aaseng officiating. Interment with military honors will be in Dawson Memorial Cemetery of Glendive. Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home of Glendive is entrusted with arrangements.
LeRoy was born on April 9, 1926 in Fargo, North Dakota the son of Adelbert and Viola (Bartleson) Ames. He was raised in the White Earth, North Dakota area and attended school through grade 3 there. He later attended school in Whitefish, Montana and Ray High School in Ray, North Dakota.
LeRoy worked for the Great Northern Railway in 1942 and 1943 before entering the United States Army on October 25, 1944. He served during WWII, having served over 2 years in Italy until his honorable discharge on November 6, 1946.
On April 20, 1947, LeRoy married Alida Moen in Washburn, North Dakota. LeRoy became employed by Halliburton as a mechanic and he and his wife lived in Wheelock, North Dakota from 1947-1949, Whitefish, Montana from 1949-1952, Tioga, North Dakota from 1952-1957, Watford City, North Dakota from 1957-1962 when they moved to Glendive where they remained until his retirement after 25 years of service.
LeRoy was a 40 year member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks #1324 and the Moose Lodge #949. He was also a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #1125 and the American Legion.
Survivors include his wife, Alida of Glendive, four daughters; Lyla Mitchell and her husband Larry of Sheridan, Wyoming, LaNette Simonton(Clint Sallee) and Andrea Huschka and her husband Keith of Glendive, and Christie McLain and her husband Bob of Apple Valley, Minnesota, one son, Arnie Ames of Bakersfield, California, ten grandchildren: Jason, Traci, Kimra, Shelly, Jenny, Eric, Mark, Jacob, Ryan and Angela, seven great grandchildren: Allison, Joshua,Jacob, Savannah, Dalton, Rheanna and Lillian, three cousins: Warner Bartleson of Omak, Washington, Rod Bartleson of Cut Bank, Montana and Vance Bartleson of Seattle, Washington.
Introduction:
Good Afternoon. I am Sandy Silha with the Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home. It is my honor to present the eulogy for LeRoy Adelbert Ames.
Eulogy:
LeRoy Adelbert Ames was an important man who touched many lives, and today we pay tribute to the man he was and the life he led.
In first meeting LeRoy, he may have come across as a bit intimidating with his gruff voice and manner. His daughter Christie claims she didnt know his name wasnt Sir the first six years of her life. But underneath that gruffness was, as daughter Lyla put it, a teddy bear. LeRoy had a great compassion and love for his family and those important to him, and his strength was their rock and support.
LeRoy was born and for the most part, raised in rural North Dakota. He was an only child and his given name was Adelbert, after his father. His mothers nickname for him was Lollie, but throughout his life he was known to all as LeRoy.
During LeRoys high school years, World War II was raging on both fronts. As is common with young men, LeRoy and his friends wanted to get in the mix, so four of them made a pact that if one was drafted the other three would sign up too and they would all go together. Well, one of the boys did get drafted and true to their pact, the other three enlisted in the Army. LeRoy would laugh telling this story, because when they reported for their physicals, the Army wouldnt take the boy who was drafted; he had flat feet, but the Army took the other three. LeRoy was sent to Italy, but by then the war was over, and the two years he spent there was during the Allied occupation. All LeRoy ever really said about his time in Italy was that it was dirty and the beer was warm.
After his discharge from the Army, LeRoy returned to North Dakota. LeRoy was lined up on a blind date with Alida Moen by Alidas sister, and they attended a basketball game. Three months later to the day, LeRoy and Alida were married. People told them it wouldnt last, but it did. LeRoy and Alida spent 61 years as life partners and friends in a marriage filled with love, family, work and an enjoyment of life.
LeRoy worked for Halliburton most of his life. The early years, he drove truck and was away from home a great deal of the time. He and his family also moved around quite often. Finally, the Ames came to Glendive and LeRoy decided he was done moving. Although he loved driving truck, he became a mechanic for the company, something he really was born to do. LeRoy had huge hands and thumbs, a trait his daughter Andrea inherited. But those big hands were made to hold tools and fix things. LeRoys term for himself was that he was a mek-an-ik. There was not a motor LeRoy couldnt fix. He liked old cars, mostly because he could work on them. And many would bring their car problems to LeRoy to fix or at least advise them on. Once, when son Arnie got stranded on the road in Idaho, LeRoy guided Arnie in doing the repairs during a phone call that lasted two hours.
LeRoy was a perfectionist in all he did. Son-in-law, Larry, recalls helping LeRoy put an intake manifold in an engine. LeRoy stood over the engine block, holding the intake manifold over it, for what was a good amount of time. LeRoy lined up the manifold with the engine on all sides, making sure it was exactly aligned, and then he dropped the manifold down to the engine, slipping it into place perfectly. All he had to do then was slip the bolts in. His comment to Larry was that you had to get it right because if it wasnt installed correctly and you turned the manifold to get it in properly, you could get leaks.
Alida has a vivid memory of LeRoy adding on to the deck at their home. She can still picture LeRoy down on his hands and knees, using a pocketknife to shave a board of the deck flooring that didnt fit perfectly. It bothered LeRoy when thing werent just right.
And LeRoy was adamant about clean hands at the dinner table. He would remind you as he sent you off to wash up that your hands dont end at your wrists.
Wearing a hat in the house was not allowed, and wearing a hat while eating was strongly prohibited. Grandson Eric Simonton was well aware of that rule. At a school athletic banquet, when LeRoy came into the room, Eric told all his friends sitting around him that his grandpa was there and they should remove their hats and they did.
With his gruff manner, LeRoy was especially intimidating to children. Friends of LeRoys children and grandchildren would be scared to death of LeRoy during their first encounters with him, until they understood his dry sense of humor. Daughter LaNette tells how difficult it was to have a date come to the house. One particular fellow, who had a head of longer, curly hair, didnt last long after LeRoy threatened to cut it off with a butcher knife.
Lyla remembers the grilling her dates would get from her father, where are you going, what are you doing, when will you be done? And then LeRoy would tell them to have his daughter back at midnight and that didnt mean 12:01. Most of Lylas dates had her back by 11.
LeRoys children and grandchildren smile at the memories of times with their father.
LeRoy loved to camp and fish, especially fishing for salmon. The two weeks of vacation he got each summer were spent doing just that. LeRoy would load up the family and head to Whitefish to visit his parents and go fishing. Finally Alida put her foot down and told LeRoy that she wasnt going to Whitefish anymore so he could fish, while she took care of the kids. She wanted to do some things of her own and see her family too. So LeRoy came up with a compromise. Spend a week doing what Alida wanted and then spend the other week at Whitefish fishing. Alida wanted to go to Yellowstone and stop every time there was something to see. She also wanted to work in a visit with her sister. Off the family went in the station wagon, with LeRoy stopping every time someone in the car said What is that? They camped in Yellowstone, and Alida got in a visit with her sister, before they all headed to Whitefish.
Sundays, LeRoy liked to pack up the fried chicken and his family and picnic in Makoshika Park. LeRoy loved the outdoors.
Another favorite activity of LeRoys was hunting, elk hunting in particular. Larry tells of one elk LeRoy got that he was especially proud of. LeRoy had shot but not killed the elk, and the elk took off. Not one to leave game in the field, LeRoy tracked the elk until he found it and could finish him off. This took the better part of the day, and by the time LeRoy had dressed the elk out, it was dark. Worried that he would get lost trying to get back to his vehicle, LeRoy spent the night with the elk, hauling it out the next morning. LeRoy always dressed out his game, cleaned his fish and ate what he got.
LeRoy and Alida enjoyed playing cards and going dancing. According to Alida, LeRoy was a terrible dancer, and he would dance but preferred visiting while Alida danced.
In the obituary, you will read about all the organizations LeRoy belonged to. His kids say it was only so he could go to their steak nights. LeRoy loved to eat. His favorite foods were anything Norwegian. He loved lefse, pickled herring, and lutefisk. Lyla called LeRoy a lutefisk taste tester. If LeRoy heard about a lutefisk dinner he would go and if the dinner was a two night affair, Leroy would attend both nights. And he could eat pounds of lutefisk at one sitting. LeRoy was a familiar face at lutefisk dinners in three states.
Another favorite food of LeRoys was butter. He liked a little popcorn with his butter, and if you made a sandwich you buttered both slices of bread. Grandson Mark Simonton remembers his grandpa putting peanut butter on saltine crackers and then covering that with butter. It helped keep the peanut butter from sticking to the roof of his mouth.
A favorite birthday tradition of LeRoys was for LaNette to bake her father a chocolate cake with brown sugar frosting. LeRoy always requested that the cake be one inch high and the frosting be 2 inches high. LaNette must have a bit of her fathers perfectionist nature in her, as there is a photo showing LeRoy measuring his birthday cake, and LaNette is right on.
LeRoy was also famous for a few sayings he always used. One was If youre waitin on me, youre backing up.
Or he might remind you, No .that aint what I said.
One thing he always told his kids and grandkids was, Dont fall down. Except for his granddaughter, Jenny; he would tell Jenny, Dont fall up.
And according to Arnie there were three things LeRoy preached constantly. One was that you should tell the truth the first time and then you wont have to try to remember what you had said. LeRoy could pick off a lie in a heartbeat.
Another important lesson of life was always do it right the first time.
And last but not least, Hold the light so I can see!
LeRoys favorite television shows were westerns, in particular Bonanza. LaNette got him a set of Bonanza DVDs so LeRoy had his own re-runs to watch. And if you remember Archie Bunker, well, Archie couldnt hold a candle to LeRoy when it came to politics and social issues.
Throughout his life, LeRoy was primarily a family man. He was very close to his parents until their deaths, especially his mother. He was a strong and reliable presence for Alida and his children, and he was a marshmallow with the grandkids. He attended all their important events, no matter where they were and tried to be as much a part of their lives as time and distance would allow. Grandson Eric followed grandpa around like a shadow grandpa was his hero. Grandpa taught Eric about the finer things in life such as lutefisk, pickled herring, sardines, and how to curse without cottonpickin swearing.
Mark remembers Grandpa picking him up from swimming lessons. Mark thought it was so cool to drive away with Grandpa in his pick-up with the big whip antenna. Grandpa had a CB and his handle, if you can believe it, was Lollipop.
And granddaughter, Jenny, would often have the bus from daycare drop her at her Grandpas so they could have coffee together. They were coffeehounds, and shared many a cup together.
Marsha Jeffery Hendrickson wrote a poem about fathers. The following are a few lines from that poem:
We often went exploring
and I learned to love the land,
but the greatest thing I ever learned
was how to understand-
That the finest gifts are often
things we may not always see;
When I wasnt with my father,
my father was with me.
Yes, this gruff, teddy bear of a husband, father, and grandfather loved his family well, and they loved him, and will miss him greatly.
After todays committal service for LeRoy, his family will be doing some special things to honor him. Alida will place a pink carnation and a white carnation with LeRoy. Pink and white carnations were their wedding and anniversary flowers. On their 50th wedding anniversary, LeRoy gave Alida 50 carnations, 25 white ones and 25 pink ones. On their 60th anniversary, each of their five children gave them an arrangement of carnations with each arrangement having 6 pink and 6 white carnations. Alida will place her carnations with LeRoy as a symbol of their life of shared love and marriage.
Arnie and Andrea will each place a yellow rose with LeRoy. Yellow was LeRoys favorite color. Arnies rose will signify friendship and Andreas yellow rose signifies her thanks for all the support she has received from her father and for his compassionate love and friendship with Jenny. LeRoys mother was disabled and Jenny holds a special place in his heart.
Lyla, LaNette, and Christie will each place a red rose with LeRoy, signifying the love they shared with their father.
They will then be joined by the grandchildren to pay tribute to LeRoy by leaving pennies on LeRoys grave. These pennies signify that they will remember LeRoy with love in their hearts and think of him often. As they go about the busyness of life, when they find a penny in an unexpected place, at an unexpected time, they will will be reminded by these pennies from heaven, that Leroy is thinking of them and sending them his love.
Earlier, you heard LeRoys daughter Christie sing On Eagles Wing, a song LeRoy chose to have her sing today. In a moment you will hear his grandson, Mark play for you on the piano. LeRoys mother taught piano, and LeRoy has always enjoyed listening to his grandson play. The song Mark will play for his grandfather today is the last song Mark played for his grandfather when LeRoy was alive.
And so we will end this eulogy of LeRoy Adelbert Ames with the words he so often used when saying good-bye Glad you got to see me.
