The large cross on the right wall in the south transept is a memorial to Allen M. Ellsworth. Ellsworth was the office manager at Good Samaritan Hospital for 11 years prior to his death in 1947. He also served as secretary of the board of St. Helen’s Hall (the Episcopal girl’s school in Portland that eventually became Oregon Episcopal School) and was a member of the Chapter at St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
The cross was carved in 1951 by Ambrose Seliger and originally hung in the chapel of the Lewis Wing of Good Samaritan Hospital. Seliger and the Rev. Bernard Geiser (1887–1965), then chaplain at Good Samaritan, collaborated on the design, artistry, and work to create the cross. The cross originally included several large Belgium crystals that have since been lost. According to the Rev. Geiser, the design was inspired by the jeweled Romanesque cross worn by Dr. Lansing Kempton, rector at Trinity from 1937 to 1968. The cross was dedicated by Bp. Dagwell on December 6, 1951.
The Lewis Wing of Good Samaritan Hospital was demolished in 1976 and the cross languished in a storage room at the hospital for several decades until it was rediscovered in 2018. When found, the cross was broken just below the crossarm and the Belgium crystals were missing. The cross was restored, without replacing the Belgium crystals, and given a new home at Trinity.
