BOB AMBROSIUS SCHOLARSHIP
Bob Ambrosius grew up on a farm in Harvard, IL. He was the mischievous baby of the family and loved the freedom of farm life and sneaking a smoke in the hay loft. In 6th grade, his family relocated from the farm to the big city of St. Louis. He had gone from a one-room country schoolhouse to the very posh Principia school, where he worked hard to fit in.
When he was young, Bob and his parents took a boat trip down the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans and nearly drown in Lake Pontchartrain. They were rescued by the Coast Guard, but this trip was just one of many “Huckleberry Finn” moments for Bob.
He and his high school buddies had many adventures and succeeded in getting arrested on Christmas Eve for underage drinking - his father let them sweat it out in the cell overnight.
Bob was already married with a baby on the way in his senior year of college, but still managed to have his fun with the guys – hopping the train to NYC being one of his favorite memories often shared with family and friends.
In 1996 Bob accepted a challenge by hiring Bryan Bohnert, a young inexperienced account executive with two very small children. Labeled as “the bull in a china closet” by the interviewing team, Bob argued that “the boy had passion” hired him anyway and took Bryan under his wing. Not only did Bob teach Bryan the ropes of account management, He became Bryan’s mentor in life also teaching him how to be a better husband, father and business man, from what to wear to the best kinds of wine to order when taking a client to dinner.
In 2000, Bob introduced Bryan into what has become a life changing career of telecommunications and both went their separate ways. However, Bob continued to mentor Bryan and his son’s Bryce and Brendan through visits to their home in Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri with countless hours of singing around the fire pit and listening to Bob’s stories about the wonderful joy and freedom he felt when laying on the rooftop of a train car and watching the stars go by as he listened to the clickity clack of the tracks on his way to his next adventure.