Haydn Ambrose

Ambrose, Haydn
Kalamazoo, MI W. Haydn Ambrose, longtime Kalamazoo resident and former vice president of Kalamazoo College, died Friday, Sept. 6 in Kalamazoo. He was 90.
Ambrose became vice president for development at Kalamazoo College in 1983, where he oversaw fundraising, alumni relations, public relations, publications and research, and launched a major capital campaign.
He had served the college since 1967 in numerous roles, including assistant to the president for church relations, dean of admissions and financial aid, and associate director of development. He retired in 1988.
Before joining Kalamazoo College, Ambrose was national director of campus ministry for the American Baptist Churches, based in Valley Forge, Pa. He had been the Baptist chaplain at the University of Illinois, and pastor of the First Baptist Church in Mankato, Minn.
Ambrose was born in Ammanford, Wales in 1922 and moved to the U.S. with his family as a child. He received bachelor's degrees in history and theology from Eastern College and Eastern Baptist Seminary and was ordained to the ministry in 1945. He later studied at the Lancaster Seminary, the University of Illinois and Western Michigan University, where he earned a master's degree in educational administration.
In 1963, he received an honorary doctorate from the American Baptist Seminary of the West.
Ambrose's first wife, Jane, died in 1969. He married Ione Bailey in 1971 and she survives. Other survivors include a sister, Rev. Anita Ambrose, daughters Diana Ball and Nancy Gallagher, sons Brian and Ross Ambrose, and three grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, 321 W. South St. in Kalamazoo, at 1:00 p.m. Friday, September 13, 2013. Visitation will begin at noon. Rev. Dr. Seth Weeldreyer will officiate with burial in Mt. Ever Rest Memorial Park.