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| Notes for Delores Lyons | ||||||||||
| Dolores Lyons Ambrose (1913-1984) A Brief Remembrance (This is a note from Robert Beyer to his adult children--after Delores Ambrose died (with no will), our family received some of her substantial inheritance, and myf ather shared it with the children. I might add that the 20 thousand or so that Marilyn and I received made it possible to buy our first house--Rick Beyer, 3/7/2002) Since my cousin Dolores was almost completely unknown to you, and since she has unknowingly become your benefactor, I thought it seemly to write a few of my recollections of her, and to enclose a picture. The only pictures I have of her are those of her as a young girl or young woman. The one that I enclose shows her at age 23 (and me at 16). Dolores Lyons Ambrose (1913-1984) A Brief Remembrance Since my cousin Dolores was almost completely unknown to you, and since she has unknowingly become your benefactor, I thought it seemly to write a few of my recollections of her, and to enclose a picture. The only pictures I have of her are those of her as a young girl or young woman. The one that I enclose shows her at age 23 (and me at 16). Dolores was the older child of Helen Lyons (my father's sister) and Joseph Lyons. She was born in 1913 in New York City. Most of her youth was spent in the family house at 2156 Blackrock Avenue in the Bronx, a house I well remember. It had its garage at the front of the property and then a garden, followed by the house in the extreme rear. The house was distinguished by the fact that, due to Dolores' father (Uncle Joe, of pot-cleaning fame), who worked for the New York Telephone Company, and her brother Joseph, Jr., every room in the house had a (home-made) radio. This was at a time when any "normal" family had one battery-operated set at most, and we children marveled at this electronic household. In those days, I lived in Baldwin in what would now be called an extended family household my grandparents, four of their children, various grandchildren, my grandfather's sister and occasionally, other relatives. In the summertime, Dolores and "Junior" showed up regularly and even during the winter, they would come to that house, or to our next home in Baldwin, for weekend stays. I remember that it was Dolores who, when we were all sitting on the screened porch of 140 S. Grand Avenue, Baldwin, enjoying a vigorous electrical storm, went up to her room at the back of the house to get something and found that the room had been struck by lightning. Dolores had long hair when she was young, and you can see her in several of my childhood photographs. After she grew up, she wore her hair quite short. She was always very small the epitome of the word petite, as you can see from the photograph. Dolores was always held up to us as an academic star. In terms of our family, she was indeed the first to graduate from college, the first to get a master's degree, the first to become a lawyer. She attended Hunter High School for Girls in Manhattan, and then went to Hunter College, which, in those days, was the New York City College for Women, and of very high academic standards. After seven years of one Hunter or another, Dolores reached out for new ground and transferred to Alabama Polytechnic (Auburn), from which she took a bachelor's degree in chemistry, probably in 1935. She next went to Columbia University and took a master's degree in psychology. At about this time, she met (and was courted by) Dominic (Joe) Ambrose (1901-1959). Joe was a dozen years older than Dolores and was losing his hair. He was an Italian whose business (installation and maintenance of pinball machines in bars and restaurants) made others sniff and murmur about organized crime. Joe was a pleasant and friendly person and we saw a good deal of him in the later thirties. If my opinion had been asked, I would have said that he didn't have a chance. But I was wrong and they were married about this time. Dolores was always held up to us as an academic star. In terms of our family, she was indeed the first to graduate from college, the first to get a master's degree, the first to become a lawyer. She attended Hunter High School for Girls in Manhattan, and then went to Hunter College, which, in those days, was the New York City College for Women, and of very high academic standards. After seven years of one Hunter or another, Dolores reached out for new ground and transferred to Alabama Polytechnic (Auburn), from which she took a bachelor's degree in chemistry, probably in 1935. She next went to Columbia University and took a master's degree in psychology. At about this time, she met (and was courted by) Dominic (Joe) Ambrose (1901-1959). Joe was a dozen years older than Dolores and was losing his hair. He was an Italian whose business (installation and maintenance of pinball machines in bars and restaurants) made others sniff and murmur about organized crime. Joe was a pleasant and friendly person and we saw a good deal of him in the later thirties. If my opinion had been asked, I would have said that he didn't have a chance. But I was wrong and they were married about this time. AMBROSE, Dolores Lyons (Mrs. Dominick Joseph Ambrose), lawyer; b. N.Y.C., June 14, 1914; d. Joseph P. and Helen D. (Beyer) Lyons; student Hunter Coll., 1931-33, Ala. Poly. Inst., 1933-34; B.S., Columbia 1935; LL.B., St. John's Law Sch., 1944; m. Dominick Joseph Ambrose, Nov. 26, 1940 (dec. June 1950). Admitted to N.Y. bar, 1945; mem. Vol. Defender panel Queen's County Women's Bar, N.Y.C., 1945-50; practiced in Bklyn., 1951-56, Patchogue, N.Y., 1951 --. Chmn. March of Dimes, Patchogue, N.Y., 1942-43, War Fund, Patchogue, 1944-45; asst. dir. Civil Def., Patchogue. Chmn. Woman's div. Suffolk County Dem. Com., 1952-56; mem. Suffolk County Dem. Com. Recipient certificates for War Fund Service, 1945, March of Dimes, 1943. Mem. Suffolk County, Queens County Women's Bar assns. Home: 312 Maple Av. Office: 168 W. Main St., Patchogue, N.Y. (from "Who's Who Among American Women," about 1965.) | ||||||||||
| Last Modified 10 Mar 2002 | Created 20 May 2002 by Reunion for Macintosh |