RANCHO BERNARDO - Children loved to listen to Chet Ambrose's stories. He loved to tell them.

Download related story

A former teacher and elementary school principal, Ambrose was retired from his teaching career. But he never lost his love of teaching. So Ambrose made the rounds of the Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church preschool, enthralling children with his stories.

It was a second career for Ambrose, who moved to Rancho Bernardo in 1995 with his wife, Pat. He became known to hundreds of children as "The Storyteller of Rancho Bernardo."

Ambrose died July 23 from cancer. He was 77. In August, Ambrose and his wife would have celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary.

The couple met in Germany, where he was in the Army and she had a civil service job with the Army.

"I'd known him for over a year, and he was just a great guy," Pat Ambrose said.

They got married in Los Angeles, where Ambrose worked for 35 years as a teacher and elementary school principal in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Ambrose began his storytelling very simply, said daughter Nancy Casey, in a tribute on a Web site devoted to Ambrose at http://www.chesterambrose.com. The Web site features stories, photos and Biblical quotes reflecting his life's values.

Besides Casey, Ambrose's surviving children are sons Roger Ambrose, of Thousand Oaks, and Brian Ambrose, of Concord.

Casey, of San Diego, quoted letters from grateful mothers in her tribute. One mother wrote, "Chet was more than just stories; he was about connections and relationships. He was bigger than life because of the uniqueness of his stories. My children just love him."

"He was a member of the church, and just walked in one day and said he wanted to tell stories," said Patti Hunter, head of the preschool.

Hunter said Ambrose did a lot of research and preparation for his stories.

"He would go to storytelling conventions, and gain stories from that, and technique, and really studied the art," Hunter said. "It was definitely his passion. He knew how to connect with the children really well."

"Scat the Cat" and "Yellow Behind the Ears" were two of Ambrose's favorite stories, Hunter said. The stories were taken from traditional sources. "Yellow Behind the Ears," for example, is from a Native American tale.

When his illness prevented him from personally visiting the children, Ambrose made recordings of his stories, which are now available for purchase through the preschool in CD format. There are three four-disc sets, and each disc has two to three stories on it. The stories are about 10 minutes long.

Those interested in purchasing the story recordings should email the preschool at phunter@rbcpc.org.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com.