Monmouth County Man Who Died On Cruise Ship Was 'Mentor' To Everyone, Friends Say

Joe Ambrosi was a mentor to everyone, as well as a reminder.

He reminded people to fill their gas tanks. He was a role model for supporting his children’s endeavors - be it sporting events or traveling.

He would even let them know what baseball hat to wear that day. It's no wonder, his friends say, that he had a deep knowledge of "pens."

Now they don't have him around anymore to share that knowledge and that mentoring.

Ambrosi, 62, of Middletown was one of two people who died on a cruise ship that departed from the state, according to reports.

Ambrosi died Tuesday, and William Alan Forsythe, 55, a highway construction foreman from Dawson, Pennsylvania, died Wednesday, according to their obituaries and elnuevodia.com.

Patch and that publication initially misspelled both Ambrosi and Forsythe's name and misidentified Forsythe's occupation. The Ferguson Funeral Home in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, for Forsythe, and Evergreen Memorial Funeral Home in Middletown, New Jersey, for Ambrosi, provided the correct spellings.

Both were with their wives and planned to stay in hotels in Puerto Rico, according to the nj.com and elnuevodia reports. The deaths happened aboard Anthem of the Seas, one of several cruise ships that docked at a dock in Old San Juan.

One of them died while the ship was at sea and the other once the ship reached port, according to the report.

The ship left Bayonne and stopped in San Juan as part of its 12-day trip. The ship also was supposed to stop in St. Maarten; St. Johns, Antigua; Bridgetown, Barbados; Fort De France, Martinique and Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis, according to the cruse line.

Forsythe was described in his obituary as a devoted husband, son, father, grandfather, brother and uncle. He was employed for 27 years at Donegal Construction Corp., where he worked as a highway construction foreman. He graduated from Frazier High School, Class of 1978, and enjoyed taking cruises with his wife to many various destinations, according to the obituary.

"Bill also enjoyed coaching youth sports, being involved with local athletic associations and was an avid Nascar fan," according to the obituary. "Bill will be sadly missed by his loving family."

Survivors were his wife of 31 years, Linda E. (Eutsey) Forsythe; his mother, Marjorie (Myers) Forsythe; his stepson, Kurt Martin and his wife, Sally, and their daughter, Meredith, all of Butler; his sister, Connie Lowe and her husband, Clint, of Dawson; his brother, George L. Forsythe Jr. and his wife, Jemie, of Scottdale; and his niece, Stacy Lowe. In addition to his father, he was preceded in death by a stepson, Frank J. Martin, in 1994.

Personalized arrangements are under the professional supervision of the Robert P. Ferguson Funeral Home, 105 Spring St., Scottdale (724-887-5300/ www.fergusonfunerals.com). Family and friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in the funeral home chapel, where funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, with Pastor Keith Solomon officiating. Graveside committal service and interment will follow in Mt. Joy Cemetery.

The family suggests memorials to Children's Make-A-Wish Foundation at www.wish.org. Love Lasts Forever!
- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituari...

Ambrosi was born and raised in Brooklyn and was survived by his wife, Teresa Guastella Ambrosi; his children, Michael and Jenna; and his sister, Martha Ambrosi Basta and her husband Bill; his mother in law, Rose Guastella and Herbert Jollett; his sister in law, Gina Guastella Iacono and her husband Joe and their daughters, Elizabeth and Melissa.

Ambrosi was a director of information strategy and analytics, clinical informatics and innovation at Pfizer where his career spanned 30-plus years. "During the course of his career he provided support, guidance and jokes to his colleagues," according to his obituary.

"He will best be remembered by his joyous outlook on life, infectious laugh, and a love for one liner jokes, Frank Sinatra songs, and Hallmark movies," according to the obituary. "We will miss his depth of knowledge of pens, his constant reminders to fill our gas tanks, and his unwavering support of both his children’s endeavors - be it sporting events, traveling, or which baseball hat to wear that day."

Services were scheduled to be Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Evergreen Memorial Funeral Home in Middletown.

Funeral services were to be held at 10 a.m. on Monday at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Red Bank. Mausoleum Entombment will be in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Middletown. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Joe may be made to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the American Cancer Society.

The cruise ship, meanwhile, has had some incidents recently that raised concerns. A Maryland boy died from “accidental drowning” two days after falling into a pool aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship departing from Hudson County, New Jersey, a Monday report stated.

Prince Adepoju, 8, passed away on July 2 at Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze. The cause of death was “drowning, with contributing condition of seizure disorder,” a spokesperson from the medical examiner’s office stated, adding that the manner of death was an “accident.”

Evergreen Memorial Funeral Home and Ferguson Funeral Home photo of Ambrosi and Forsythe

Patch file photo