Ambrose "Herb" Joseph Linnen

Ambrose was born on August 15, 1932 to John Linnen and Marie Fitzpatrick Linnen. He and his brother, Francis “Tom” Linnen, grew up in the Pennsylvania coal-mining town of Carbondale, Pennsylvania just north of Scranton, the government seat of Lackawanna County.

Ambrose attended the Jesuit-run University of Scranton, earning his bachelor’s degree in English in 1954. Following graduation, he enlisted with the Army and was assigned to report to the Psychological Warfare/Special Forces units at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Within months he was stationed in Honolulu, where he wrote and produced propaganda leaflets that were scattered over Southeast Asia. When the Pentagon Papers were published in 1971, Ambrose learned that his unit might have been among the first troops to enter Vietnam had President Eisenhower decided to get involved there, as he was being advised.

After the Army, Ambrose joined the Associated Press in Harrisburg and then in Philadelphia, as a political and legislative reporter covering two administrations of state governments, and elections.

When the 1960 presidential campaign swung through the region, Ambrose fell under the spell of John F. Kennedy. He quickly came to admire the Massachusetts senator and was in disbelief when his brother Tom, at the time a JFK operative in Montgomery County, arranged an interview in Rockville with the candidate shortly before the Pennsylvania primary.

Ambrose, then 27, rode with then-senator and presidential candidate JFK through the county for a four-hour interview. After that, Ambrose and Kennedy crossed paths several times. Once, when Kennedy was campaigning in Pennsylvania, he got word that Ambrose was doing a fairly decent impression of him on the campaign bus. Kennedy requested a command performance: "I come heah to Scranton to get this country moving again," Ambrose recalled saying in front of JFK in his best Brahmin accent. He said Kennedy loved it and told him, "When I get weary, maybe you could stand in for me." Ambrose said, "It was very difficult being objective writing about Kennedy. I idolized him. I learned a lot from the way he handled the media. He enjoyed reporters. He enjoyed the mental and intellectual competition that goes on between a person in journalism and a person in public life."

In 1967, Ambrose left the AP to join AT&T as corporate director for public relations, but he never really left journalism. His keen news instincts prepared him for a career as one of the best-regarded corporate PR executives in the business, according to journalists and PR professionals.

In 1996, Ambrose was one of 7,400 managers to take a voluntary early retirement offered by AT&T. An early retirement that afforded him the opportunity to spend more time with his wife, Rosemary, who remained ever his high school sweetheart.

He loved Sinatra, comedian Bob Newhart, and the films of director David Lean. “Bridge on the River Quai” was his favorite. Being stationed in Hawaii instilled in Ambrose a need to revisit the tropics throughout the years. Aruba, Bahamas, Key Largo, Montego… Like the Beach Boys song goes, he spirited his wife and their two young sons, Mark and Scott, off to fond memory-filled family vacations in the Caribbean’s sundrenched tropical island paradises.

Ambrose loved his wife Rosemary and was her rock through her many challenges with rheumatoid arthritis. Though his early retirement golden years with her were tragically cut short when she passed away in 2001.

Ambrose is survived by his sons Scott and Mark. He is to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery beside his beloved, Rosemary.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made by supporting local journalism.

We will not be holding an in-person memorial service. Instead, a private family ceremony will be held at Arlington National.