AMBROSE, Ellen, age 94, passed peacefully with family by her side on April 22, 2016. Born Ellen Elisabeth Schneider March 10, 1922 in Erfurt, Germany, the daughter of Hermann and Else Schneider. As a young girl, she grew up in Erfurt along with her older brother Gerhardt before attending the University of Basel in Basel, Switzerland where she graduated in 1944 with a degree in library science. She returned to Erfurt to work and live with her parents during WWII.

Shortly after the war, Ellen escaped Russian occupied Erfurt, walking four days without food or water, to Western Germany, where she was taken in and offered refuge by the American Army. Here she taught piano and served as an interpreter for the U.S. Army. It was during this service that she met a young and handsome American officer from Detroit, Michigan, Captain John Ambrose, who was stationed there during the war.  They fell in love and were later married in Pascagoula, Mississippi in 1947 by the ship’s captain.

Ellen and John settled in Farmington Hills, Michigan. They were lifelong partners, confidants, and best friends who supported each other and their children. Together, they founded Ambrose Associates, a successful advertising and marketing firm whose most notable client was GMC Truck and Coach Division.

Ellen was a beautiful, cultured woman; a confident and fearless free spirit. She possessed a strong code of honor from her esteemed father and expected the same from others. She had metal and grit, yet saw beauty all around her and loved all things natural and wild. Her passion was reveling in the splendor of nature and gardening.

Ellen lived a vibrant, healthy life on her own terms with grace and gratitude. She enriched her family’s and friends’ lives with her strength, courage, and fun-loving zest for life.  Her legacy is memorialized at her home.

She was the beloved wife of the late John; dearest mother of Barbara Shires (Donald), Christine Ambrose, and Heidi Becker (Peter); loving Oma of Erin Gulick (Jamie), John Shires, Christine Moser (Marcus), and Katherine Becker; and proud Grand Oma of Lilian Gulick, Annalise Gulick, and Maxim Moser. A Celebration of Life will take place on Saturday, July 2 from 11am to 2pm at the Longacre House, 24705 Farmington Rd., Farmington Hills. Memorial contributions can be made to the Alzheimer's Association or the Michigan Humane Society.