Irene Amundsen Had A Way With Cakes And Customers

Irene Elizabeth Amundsen, a k a "The Cake Shop Lady," not only had her cake and ate it too, but probably told the baker how to decorate it.

She owned and operated Home Cake Decorating Supply Co., a popular fixture in North Seattle since 1962. She provided homemakers and professional bakers with a range of tools and decorations to help them turn out fancy cakes and candies.

Her shop, now run by her daughter, Greil Mooney of Seattle, carries everything from molded sugar pumpkins for Halloween cupcakes to edible killer whales to top a cake for the nature lover. Wedding-cake decorations are a specialty.

"If she didn't have it, she could find it for you, or make it," said Linda Reese, a professional cake decorator. "That place is packed with stuff. It was fun to go there not only for that, but because she loved to visit. And she would always compliment you on something when you came in."

The Cake Shop Lady sometimes even gave customers something they admired but could not afford.

Mrs. Amundsen died Tuesday (Sept. 22) of cancer. She was 73.

Born in Seattle, she grew up in Wenatchee and Seattle, where she attended Roosevelt High School. Her marriage to Paul Amundsen in 1941 ended in divorce in the 1970s, but with him she raised a family and got money to open her cake-decorating-supply business in 1962 with her late sister, Thelma Sowards.

In 1964, they moved the shop from Pinehurst Avenue Northeast to Roosevelt Way Northeast.

Her sister, who had studied cake-decorating in Portland and had to buy supplies there, encouraged Mrs. Amundsen to join her in opening a business offering classes and supplies in Seattle.

It catered to people wanting to create "gooey cakes with lots of frosting flowers," said Mrs. Amundsen's son, Aaron Amundsen of Seattle.

She followed trends, upgrading supplies but keeping classics in stock. She saw the fashion in flowers turn from frosted to fresh, and the demand for brides and grooms on wedding cakes expand to mixed-race and same-gender couples.

She did little decorating herself, but she could tell you what you needed to know or point you to an expert.

"My mom only got a high-school education, but she was really a savvy businesswoman," Amundsen said. "She knew the only way to stand out was in how you treated people. She would stay late, deliver things to homes, create custom items. She did whatever it took."

Also surviving are her sisters, JoAnn Smith of Mountlake Terrace, and Betty Finnell and Linda Mooney, both of Edmonds; her brothers, Kenneth Fraley of Purdy and Gary Fraley of Lacey; and a grandchild.

Services have been held.