Michael Ambrose, age 80, of Savage, Minnesota died peacefully at home on September 3, 2021, with his family by his side. He is survived by his beloved wife of 52 years, Jane (Thoraldson), his daughters Kerry Davison (Len), Tammy Stavenes, Tara Ambrose, and Jean Opitz; five grandchildren, Molly, Katelyn, Ethan, Melissa, and Jacob; sister-in-law Trudi, and many wonderful nieces, nephews and extended family. He was preceded in death by his son O'Donovan, and his siblings Lindy, Buddy, Tommy, and Joe.

Mike was a new guy who showed up in our class, having transferred in from Edina in January of 1958.  For that reason he never appeared in our Echowan Yearbook (we are uncertain as to exactly why not), but he did graduate with us on June 5, 1958.  Probably that's why he never came to any of our class reunions either, until our 50th in 2008, when we do recall he made an appearance there.  He made such a quick entrance to and exit from our senior year that we hardly noticed him.  But he was on our class lists; any failure to invite Mike to enjoy our class reunions is entirely our fault as planners.  Any classmates who recall a special relationship with Mike are invited to share that (below) in the Comments Section.

He lived in various tree houses in the rain forests on Papua New Guinea!; how's that for an SLP graduate?  How and why he got there will remain a mystery.  For a time (15 years) Mike was a bartender, then turned to the field of transportation and ultimately went to school to become a computer programmer.  Mike retired in 2004, after which he and his wife spent a lot of time driving around the 48 contiguous United States.  He enjoyed digital photography and boasted of over 46,000 pictures of his travels and of his grandchildren -- all on his personal computer.  In the last 17 years he was particularly proud of all of his grandchildren and the time he spent with them, trying to convince them all that he was just a silly, goofy and crazy grandpa.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sat. October 9, 2021 1pm to 4pm, Hamilton Community Room, 4735 W. 123 St. Savage, MN 55378.