Toots was born on the family farm in rural Ambrose, just northwest of the city.  Her family lived across the street from the Olaf Ness farm. Her parents were Roy and Anna Ness.  Roy and Olaf were brothers.  She and Adeline Christianson are cousins.  She got her nickname “Toots” shortly after birth when an older male cousin looked at her and said, “She looks like a Tootsie Roll”.  As Dolores grew older she realized she didn’t care for this nickname and wanted to be called Dolores, but by that time even her father couldn’t remember her real name.  However, the family did shorten the name to “Toots” and she’s been known to everyone by that name ever since.

The family farmhouse burned in 1963 and was replaced by the current house on the property, owned by Susan Lewis, Toots’ daughter-in-law.  Toots left Ambrose for Seattle, Washington in 1945.  She got a job as a “Rosie the Riveter” there.  That’s where she met her future husband Al Lewis.  They married in 1946.  Al was born in Seattle.  He had never considered farming as a profession until he visited the Ness farm with Toots.  When Roy Ness passed away in 1956 Al decided to take advantage of the opportunity to move to Ambrose and take over the family farm.  There’s nothing too unusual about that, except that Toots had vowed never to marry a farmer as she didn’t want her family to “go through all that misery” that she experienced with the ups and downs of farming during her childhood!  So much for THAT plan!

Toots and Al had three children. Susan, born in 1947, lives in Oregon.  John, born in 1952, lives in Seattle.  Ray, born in 1953, died unexpectedly in 2001.

Al is a WW II veteran.  He was a POW for about two days.  He was a member of the crew of a C-47 troop transport.  Ground fire caused the plane to burst into flame.  Al and the navigator bailed out but the rest of the crew stayed with the plane too long.  They lost their lives when the plane crashed.  Al was not hurt.  After parachuting to the ground the Nazis captured him and treated him well.  On the second day Al and the Nazis were marching when British planes strafed them.  The Nazis ran and Al ran the opposite direction.  He found a bunker to hide in that night.  Some Nazis also found the bunker but they only had a candle for light, so they didn’t see Al.  Al heard British paratrooper voices outside and ran out of the bunker toward the sound, thus making his escape from the Nazis.

Toots worked as an usher at the Electric Theater in the Sons of Norway Hall.  Lots of Canadians came to the theater as well.  Toots remembers her brother Ray going up and down the Ambrose streets ringing a bell and shouting “free show at the Electric Theater”.  Well, the show wasn’t free, but that’s what he shouted.  Kids paid ten cents and adults twenty-five cents.  Originally they showed silent movies.  Her cousin Nora Nelson played piano for the silents and Toots remembers the piano music rising to a crescendo to emphasize the cliffhanger parts.  When they started showing Westerns in serial form there was a cliffhanger every week.  The kids couldn’t wait for the next Saturday movie to find out what happened next.  After the show you could buy a hamburger for fifteen cents at the restaurant and tavern two doors north of the gas station.

When Toots’ daughter wanted a horse, Jim Christianson found an unbroken one for her.  Jim loved horses and had a reputation as a talented horse trainer.  On the day he planned to train the horse in the Lewis’ yard everyone in town wanted to see the action.  Pretty soon the yard was full of people and Toots ended up running around serving coffee and treats and never got to see the horse training session!

Al passed away in 1994.  Toots now lives in Crosby.  Her fondest memories of Ambrose come from her childhood.  First she remembers how much fun everyone had at Rud’s pond in Ambrose.  Rud Anderson built this pond on the southwest side of town.  He piped in fresh water and built an island in the center.  The kids swam in the summer and ice-skated in the winter.  There was a warming house on the island.  In those days the kids played there unsupervised all day long but no one ever got hurt.

The second memory revolves around games and sports in school.  Back then of course there were no TVs or computers. Kids played games constantly.  In her school the kids played softball during recess, at noontime and after school.  One day each school year a “Playday” was held with kids from schools all around the area getting together for a School Olympics.  It provided a rare opportunity to meet kids from other schools, as folks didn’t travel around much back then.  All the kids really enjoyed “Playday” and had lots of fun.

Adeline Christianson and cousin "Toots" Lewis - 2006

Family history taken from a personal interview
conducted on March 21, 2006 by Donna Haslett-Nelson.