By Michael Kinsman
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 7, 2007
When Chester Ambrose told stories, children were at full attention.
They would listen closely as his voice soared and then dropped dramatically. They watched his gestures intently as he spun folk tales, American Indian stories or homemade stories. Sometimes, he'd have a prop – maybe a rain stick – and that would intrigue them more.
“He allowed them to make a picture of the story in their minds with their own imagination,” Patti Hunter said. She is the director of the preschool at Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church where Mr. Ambrose would stop by every Monday to share tales with students ages 3 to 5.
“He would hold their attention for 20 or 30 minutes, and that's really something with kids this age,” Hunter said.
Mr. Ambrose died July 23 at his Rancho Bernardo home of prostate cancer. He was 77.
Mr. Ambrose taught elementary school students and was a principal during a 35-year career with the Los Angeles Unified School District.
He retired to Rancho Bernardo in 1995 and embarked on a storytelling career that had him visiting preschools and elementary schools on a weekly basis. His visits put him in front of thousands of young children through the years.
“In today's world, kids can go to the computer and get a picture of something right away,” Hunter said. “But Chet's gift was that he was telling them something in words and they could picture his stories in their minds the way they wanted. He really appealed to their imagination.”
She said students would light up each Monday when they saw him enter their classroom.
Mr. Ambrose was born Dec. 27, 1929, in Chalfont Borough, Pa. He attended Slippery Rock College, where he majored in education. After serving in the Army in Germany in the early 1950s, he moved to Los Angeles to begin a teaching career.
At one point, he was a reading specialist, but in later years, he served as an elementary school principal. When teachers called in sick, he'd often go to the classroom to await a substitute teacher's arrival.
“He didn't want to start in on the lesson plan then, so he started telling stories,” his daughter, Nancy Casey, said.
His stories were positive, life-affirming and often had morals. Hunter said his stories exposed children to cultures and vocabulary and that students learned story structure.
“I would have kids coming up to me telling me stories,” she said. “They would say 'This is the beginning of my story, this is the middle of my story and this is the ending of my story.'
“Chet really had a way of connecting with these kids. It wasn't just listening; it was getting engaged in the story as he told it.”
Mr. Ambrose was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May last year. Earlier this year, his family bought him a tape recorder to record about two dozen of his stories during the final months of his life.
“It really rejuvenated his spirit,” his son, Brian Ambrose, said. “It gave him new energy for telling his stories. He would get up in at four in the morning if the mood struck just to record another story.”
Mr. Ambrose is survived by his wife, Patricia; sons, Roger C. Ambrose of Thousand Oaks and Brian Ambrose of Concord; daughter, Nancy Casey of San Diego; brothers, Walter Ambrose of Pittsburgh, Stanley Ambrose of North Huntingdon, Pa., and Bernard Ambrose of Santee; and, eight grandchildren.
A celebration of life was held at 2 p.m. August 8, 2007 at Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Ambrose's remains have been cremated and will be inurned at the church in a private ceremony.
The family suggests donations to the preschool at Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church, 17010 Pomerado Road, San Diego, CA 92128.
Michael Kinsman: (619) 293-1370; michael.kinsman@uniontrib.com
Chester 'Chet' Ambrose,
'The Storytelling Man'
By: BRADLEY J. FIKES - Staff Writer
NORTH COUNTY TIMES
RANCHO BERNARDO -- Children loved to listen to Chet Ambrose's stories. He loved to tell them.
A former teacher and elementary school principal, Ambrose was retired from his teaching career. But he never lost his love of teaching. So Ambrose made the rounds of the Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church preschool, enthralling children with his stories.
It was a second career for Ambrose, who moved to Rancho Bernardo in 1995 with his wife, Pat. He became known to hundreds of children as "The Storyteller of Rancho Bernardo."
Ambrose died July 23 from cancer. He was 77. In August, Ambrose and his wife would have celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary.
The couple met in Germany, where he was in the Army and she had a civil service job with the Army.
"I'd known him for over a year, and he was just a great guy," Pat Ambrose said.
They got married in Los Angeles, where Ambrose worked for 35 years as a teacher and elementary school principal in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Ambrose began his storytelling very simply, said daughter Nancy Casey, in a tribute on a Web site devoted to Ambrose at http://www.chesterambrose.com. The Web site features stories, photos and Biblical quotes reflecting his life's values.
Besides Casey, Ambrose's surviving children are sons Roger C. Ambrose, of Thousand Oaks, and Brian Ambrose, of Concord.
Casey, of San Diego, quoted letters from grateful mothers in her tribute. One mother wrote, "Chet was more than just stories; he was about connections and relationships. He was bigger than life because of the uniqueness of his stories. My children just love him."
"He was a member of the church, and just walked in one day and said he wanted to tell stories," said Patti Hunter, head of the preschool.
Hunter said Ambrose did a lot of research and preparation for his stories.
"He would go to storytelling conventions, and gain stories from that, and technique, and really studied the art," Hunter said. "It was definitely his passion. He knew how to connect with the children really well."
"Scat the Cat" and "Yellow Behind the Ears" were two of Ambrose's favorite stories, Hunter said. The stories were taken from traditional sources. "Yellow Behind the Ears," for example, is from a Native American tale.
When his illness prevented him from personally visiting the children, Ambrose made recordings of his stories, which are now available for purchase through the preschool in CD format. There are three four-disc sets, and each disc has two to three stories on it. The stories are about 10 minutes long.
Those interested in purchasing the story recordings should email the preschool at phunter@rbcpc.org.
Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641
bfikes@nctimes.com.
