Steese's Country Restaurant and Home Made Ice Cream shut off its neon "open" sign on Saturday after serving the community for nearly 50 years.

Like many patrons, Ken Badger of Mercer didn't know Saturday would be the Pine Township business' final day when he arrived to buy his favorite ice cream, butter pecan.

"It's disappointing," he said. He'd been a customer of Steese's "probably 50 years."

Badger didn't get a last taste of his favorite cream, which was sold out. However, patrons were happy to at least have a final bite of something before saying good-bye to the ice cream shop that's been in business for 48 years.

Ellen and Clyde Eddinger of Volant sat for their last meal in Steese's, which offered homestyle fare for the last 21 years.

"To me, Steese's has been here all the time since we've been here," Mrs. Eddinger said. "When our kids were growing up we brought them here for ice cream, and birthday parties, for over 37 years."

Owner Carrie Steese said the death of her husband Robert H. Steese on Jan. 11 spelled the end of the Blacktown Road eatery.

"I tried running it for two months and I didn't see the quality of business improving," she said. "You can't continually not turn a profit."

The business was started in 1955 by her husband's parents Robert E. and C. Frances Steese in a shop on courthouse square in Mercer. "They'd manufacture the ice cream in the basement and had the shop on the first floor," said Mrs. Steese.

The plant moved to the carport next to the Steese's home on Blacktown Road two years later, she said. The family put a stand near the road and Robert E. Steese did door-to-door sales, Mrs. Steese said.

The business grew and the stand was moved back from the road and added on to over the years, including a banquet room that hosted receptions, showers, funeral dinners, birthdays and club meetings.

Robert H. Steese became partners with his father in the 1970s and took over the business in the 1980s, though his parents and other family members continued to play an active role in the business, Mrs. Steese said. Her mother-in-law C. Frances Steese managed Steese's well into her senior years.

Steese's ice cream has also served hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants, grocery stores, campgrounds, a school and the Mercer County Jail. In its 42nd year, it had 125 wholesale accounts. On Saturday, it had just 25.

That was how many flavors of ice cream the family originally offered. Before the operation was shut down Saturday there were 135.

"We experimented with different batches and flavors to see what tasted good," Carrie Steese said. "Flavoring companies were always 'improving,'" she added, with a little sarcasm.

The changes kept Steese's on its toes for quality. Despite the challenges, "We kept a pretty high standard that we've tried to maintain through the years," Carrie Steese said.

Steese's will continue to cater to its long time club patrons to the end of April.

"A lot of people have said we're going to leave a hole in the area," Mrs. Steese said. "We've had a lot of loyal customers ... You feel you're letting them down, but there comes a time when you have no choice in the matter."

She attributes the business' decline to success of Prime Outlets Grove City. "There are so many restaurants over there," she said. Increased traffic has made it more difficult to get in and out of Blacktown Road and there's been a more visible ice cream competitor along Route 208 for the past 15 years, she added.

Mrs. Steese said she would like to sell the entire business to someone who could make a go of it. "We're not closing any options at this point," she said. "It can be a very profitable business for the right individual. Unfortunately, that's not me."

Mrs. Steese and her daughter Amy Steese said closing the restaurant was hard. "It's bittersweet. We're ending an era here," Amy Steese said as both women welled up with tears. "This was Dad's heart; his place. It's hard to go on without him."