Born in Taylorsville, Kentucky, on January 16, 1895, Eva Mary was the daughter of Theodore and Amanda Lindle Martin. She was the fourth child of nine. May attended Spencer County Public Elementary School at Taylorsville and Yoder Poignand High School. She was valedictorian of her class. She attended Normal School at Bowling Green and was awarded a First Class Teacher’s Certificate. She taught in the Taylorsville Public Schools until May 1918. When she left this position, her superintendent wrote, “Our students love her and respect her. We have every reason to believe that she will teach in any school in a highly creditable and satisfactory manner and arouse new interest in the district”.
In May 1918, at the age of 23, May entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph. She received the Ursuline habit on August 5, 1918 and was given the name Ambrose. While in the novitiate, she taught the boys at St. Alphonsus. Her first assignment away from the Motherhouse was at Saint Peter in Waverly where she taught high school for 12 years. Beginning in 1931, she served as principal of St. Columba, Louisville. She was elected Mother Zelatrice for a three-year term in 1937. When she left that office, she was appointed principal of St. Catherine High School, New Haven. She became school supervisor for the Archdiocese of Louisville in 1946, and was elected mother superior for two three-year terms in 1951.
During the six years she served as mother superior, the community faced many new challenges in the field of education. Increased enrollment in Catholic grade and high schools demanded more teachers. Under Mother Ambrose’s leadership, community members who were not teaching were recruited and educated to fill positions as classroom teachers. Mount Saint Joseph Junior College had relocated to Owensboro to become Brescia College. A number of sisters acquired advanced degrees to join the Brescia College faculty. During the founding days of the college, as superior of the community, Sister Ambrose served as Brescia’s president.
Sister Ambrose returned to teaching in 1957. She was principal at Sacred Heart Academy in Waterflow, New Mexico, until the sale of the property in 1965. She came back to Kentucky and served as principal once again at St. Columba, and later taught at St. Romuald High School, Hardinsburg. She returned to New Mexico, taught fourth grade in Grants, and then served as principal at San Fidel. Sister Ambrose retired to the Motherhouse in 1974.
The legacy of Sister Ambrose, characterized by clear vision and courageous leadership in education, remains a living principle guiding the community’s commitment to the mission of Christian formation and education. Sister Ambrose enjoyed uncommon appreciation of Saint Angela, the history of the Ursuline Order, and the significant contribution that Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph make toward the coming of God’s reign. Although reared in pre‑Vatican church, she taught and lived by post‑Vatican philosophy.
She suffered a heart attack on April 18, 1975. Two days later, Good Shepherd Sunday, she had a fatal heart attack at Mercy Hospital. Father John Prechtel, her nephew, concelebrated the funeral Mass with seven other priests on April 22. Sister’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.