Glover Ambrose

AMBROSE

Posted By: Linda H Meyers (email)
Date: 2/6/2014 at 13:36:09

Written at the time of Glover Ambrose death and published in the Nevada Journal 8/4/1994

MY FRIEND GLOVER: A NEVADA LEGEND

Editor's note: Glover Ambrose passed away Friday evening. He was a permanent fixture in Nevada's history for his entire life and will not be forgotten.

("For What It's Worth" column by Annette Forbes, General Manager)

I've never been able to figure out what makes some people so special to us. And perhaps it's best just to accept it and count your blessings.

My friend, Glover Ambrose, was one of those special people. I don't remember when or how we became friends but only that we did.

Of course, growing up in Nevada, I remember his father Harry as the proprietor of the Ambrose Department Store, faint but pleasant memories.

As the years went by, Glover took over the store, It was a fun place to shop and kind of a treat because of their up scale merchandise. What anticipation on Christmas morning when you saw an elegantly wrapped gift in that telltale Ambrose wrapping paper.

Those were the days when main street was full of retail stores and the sidewalks were full of shoppers, when you couldn't find a parking place on bank night and everyone came to town and when Hank Scudder and Glover Ambrose kept everyone in stitches with their costumes and practical jokes.

It was 20 years later that I moved back to the area and started working as an advertising representative for the Nevada Journal. I called on main street businesses including Ambrose's store.

Both Glover and I appreciated fine clothes and my bill each month at Ambrose's was as regular as the electric bill. In this job, the business people become friends. You talk not just of the economy but of family and life.

The business climate had changed and Glover and I often talked of the better days. Becoming friends is sort of a culmination of years of talking and laughing about life in general. I sometimes think when you know people through the good times, the bad times and the worst of times, there is a special bond. I only know Glover always had something to say that made you feel good about yourself.

Glover's life changed dramatically through those years. He lost his beloved wife Phyllis, his stores and eventually his health. Glover married Jennifer Ambrose 10 years ago and it was she that added a bright spot in his life through his continuing illness. The three of us became great companions during this last year.

Through all of that I never heard him complain and he never talked of what he'd lost, only grateful for what he had. When he was sick, he never discussed how bad he felt only that he would be glad to feel better tomorrow.

Glover loved Nevada, really loved Nevada. In his last weeks, he talked of writing a history of Nevada and the good people who lived here. He was a good writer and with his unique sense of humor it would have been wonderful reading.

I think I will miss his sense of humor the most. Even in his final days, we laughed. One day several weeks ago, I stopped to say hi. It was a "bad day" for Glover. He was lying down and because we always traded barbs I said, "I suppose you're tired because you snuck out and went dancing last night." "No, I didn't go dancing," he said.

I felt bad because he was so weak. I thought humor probably wasn't appropriate. I then heard a little voice say, "I went bowling instead, you dummy." followed by the familiar, but weaker, laugh.

Glover was my dear friend, as he was to many of you. We will miss that little man, small in stature but big in heart. We will miss the jokester, the salesman, the leader, the musician, the performer, the supreme community cheerleader, the fierce family man and the true gentleman that he was. He succeeded in life because he left his mark etched in the fond memories of those who knew him.

I'll miss him. My friend Glover.

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