Ames died April 8, 2021, in Springfield, Virginia, of cancer. He was born February 18, 1934, in Springfield. Ames graduated high school in Scottsdale, Arizona, drafted and served two years in the Army, attended University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1955, receiving a BS in Forestry. After college, Ames worked in the US Forest Service, starting as a smokejumper out of Missoula, Montana. He jumped the 1954 season before starting a 30-year career with the USFS.

When Ames retired from the Department of Agriculture, he stayed busy in real estate and the home remodeling business. Ames loved to explore, which led him to travel to each of the 50 American States, Sweden, England, Scotland, Panama as well as Canada and Mexico.