Stephen Ambra, Sr.
Posted By Royer on November 19, 2010
Stephen Peter Ambra, Sr., a long-time resident of Bowling Green and Louisiana, Missouri, died November 15, 2010 at age 85. Internment will private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to the Ruth Jensen Village, 5 Industrial Dr, Bowling Green, MO 63334, who lovingly cared for his daughter Cathy; or to Shangri-La Living Center, 930 NE Duncan Road, Blue Springs, MO 64014, who helped him in his final weeks.
Stephen was born in Buffalo, New York on August 19, 1925. to the late Florian & Pauline Mraz Ambra. He was one of the original “blocks of granite” for the Liberty (NY) High School football team. His military service was in the Merchant Marines and he sailed in convoys in the North Atlantic during World War II. He later circumnavigated the globe seven times on behalf of Royal Dutch Shell Oil: his favorite city was Istanbul. A graduate of Coyne Institute, his professional career was spent with Frazier-Davis Construction and its successor, Gunther-Nash Mining, where he was a project manager and later vice-president. Projects he worked on included the dam and tunnel system supplying water to New York City, a salt mine underneath Lake Erie, the dam and tunnel system for water supply in California, and the development of numerous coal mines. His favorite project was constructing the Neversink Dam, NY. He had served as chair of the Pike County (MO) Council on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and helped champion the cause of mental health.
He was preceded in death by his former wife, Joan Carter Golembe; a son, Thomas Ambra,; two sisters, Mary Fanning and Betty Caulkin;, and brother-in-law, Frank Stuart.
His survivors include his son: Stephen Ambra Jr. & wife Lois Ambra of Concord, NH; and daughters: Dr. Elizabeth Ward Hanneman & husband Dr. Kurt Hanneman of Blue Springs, MO and Catherine Ambra of Bowling Green, Missouri; his sister: Helen Stuart of Jupiter, FL; and his brother: John Ambra and wife Stephanie Ambra of Shrewsbury, MA. He is also survived by grandchildren: Meghan Ambra and Stephen Ambra III of Concord, NH; Daniel Ward and fiance Liselle Schmitz of Norfolk, VA; Marissa Hanneman, Amanda Hanneman and Bryan Hanneman of Blue Springs, MO; John Carter Ambra and wife Kim of Columbia, MO; Stephen Patrick Ambra of Chicago, IL; and great-grandchildren: Taylor Ambra, Braden Ambra, Kaitlyn Ambra and Laney Elizabeth Ward, all of whom he called his legacies.
Arrangements by Royer Funeral Home, Grain Valley MO 816-847-4441