Cardinal Gibbons assigned Father Philip Walsh, assistant at Saint Gregory Parish, the task of
going into the Park Heights neighborhood to determine if a parish was needed. Father Walsh
stepped from the carriage in the latter part of 1906 and began his work. He first gathered the
Catholic families in the ballroom of the Old Suburban Hotel which was usually vacant on
Sunday morning. Other than the hotel and a few sprawling buildings the young priest saw little
else in the neighborhood. Small houses and stores ran disconnected along Park Heights Avenue
as it climbed its’ way to the Pimlico Race Track. Father Walsh was hopeful!
For the first year there was no rectory or church and the church owned no property. Father
Walsh continued to live at St. Gregory’s rectory and commuted to the parish territory. Later he
found lodging at the corner of Wylie and Park Heights in the building which now houses a
barber shop. He later lived in a rented house at 4773 Park Heights Avenue until he purchased a
house in 1909 at the corner of Wylie and Park Heights, the present site of our convent building.
Father Walsh decided to strike out into the deep, and with faith in God and in the people, few
though they be, he was able to purchase property at the corner of Wylie and Park Heights
Avenue for the sum of $7,000. Soon a wooden frame church was built and dedicated to Saint
Ambrose on June 30th, 1907. Father Walsh continued to walk from Park Heights and Virginia
Avenues to the little frame church for daily mass. Later, in 1907, he sought help from the
Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart who taught catechism to the children of the parish for the
next twenty years.

In May of 1920 Father Walsh purchased the Old Suburban Hotel for school purposes. At the
time, there were 245 children in the catechism classes of the parish. Father Walsh did not live to
see the school become a reality. He died suddenly on July 15, 1920 to the shock of many
Catholics and non-Catholics.
In August 1920, Cardinal Gibbons appointed Father Reynolds as pastor of Saint Ambrose.
Father Reynolds built an addition onto the parish rectory, enlarged the sacristy and renovated the
old hotel building into the school. Father Thomas McGuigan was the third pastor of Saint
Ambrose when ground was broken for the current school
On December 7, 1924, Archbishop Curley laid the cornerstone of the school. The school was
dedicated on October 11, 1925 by Archbishop Curley and the School Sisters of Notre Dame
came to teach the children of the parish. On June 17, 1928, during the pastorate of Monsignor
Hugh Monahan, the cornerstone of the new church was laid and blessed by Archbishop
McNamara, and the following year on May 12, 1929, the beautiful new church was
dedicated. On March 22, 1942, fire damaged the convent. In May, 1942, two homes were
purchased on Wylie Avenue to use as a convent. On December 7, 1944, a fire destroyed the old
church and claimed the lives of six people. The parish Auditorium was dedicated on February
16, 1947 by Bishop McNamara. In 1955, the current rectory and convent buildings were
finished. The full parish plan of church, rectory, convent, school and auditorium was complete.
With civil unrest and the creation of fair housing enforcement in the City of Baltimore in the mid
1960’s, the Park Heights neighborhood began to change. In 1968, Father Henry Zerhusen
became the eighth pastor of St. Ambrose and was most responsible for desegregating the parish
and school. Father Henry made many of the newly arriving African American residents feel
welcomed. In 1972, during Fr. Henry’s pastorate, Deacon Americus Roy, the first African
American Deacon in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, began his ministry in the parish. Father
Henry passed away on August 9, 2003.

In 1972 the Saint Ambrose Outreach Center opened under the directorship of Sr. Charmaine
Krohe, SSND. The center provides services and hope to the Park Heights neighborhood and
beyond. With no resident pastor, the late 1980’s were a difficult time for the parish, thanks-be-
to-God Deacon Watson Fulton and Sr. Charmaine Krohe, SSND were administrators and
pastored the people.

In 1992, the pastoral care of the parish was given over to the Capuchin Franciscan Friars of the
 Province of Saint Augustine and Father John Pfannenstiel, OFM Cap was named 12th pastor.
 Father John served the parish for 12 years. In 2003, Fr. Michael Joyce, OFM Cap (Brother Mick)
 was named 13th pastor and in August, 2004,Fr. Paul Zaborowski, OFM Cap. was named 14th
 pastor. Father Paul served the parish for 20 years.  In 2024, Fr. W. David Nestler, OFM Cap was named 15^th pastor.  Saint Ambrose Rectory now has the added dimension of being a Capuchin Friary.  Fathers David, Patrick and Ignatius and Bro. Conner currently reside in the friary.

In August of 2005, the Oblate Sisters of Providence, through the ministry of Sister Mary
Loretto Evans, OSP, as Sunday School Coordinator, returned to the parish. After the passing of Sister Mary Loretto Evans, OSP, Oblate Sister Mary  Stephen Beauford continued in that ministry with Oblate Sister Philomena Chizea assisting   with the parish ministry to the sick. In 2009, the School Sisters of Notre Dame returned with Sr. Ann Marie Whalen as Minister to the Sick & Homebound and soon after Sr. Rita Bueche began her work with the RCIA Process.
 
We are blessed to have Deacons Seigfried Presberry and Steven Rubio assisting in the parish ministry. For the past eleven years, the Parish has been assisting as a placement for the Pastoral Theology Department of St. Mary’s Seminary & University and the past seven years the student friars from Capuchin College, Washington, DC have been assisting in the parish ministry as well. The Oblate Sisters of Providence assist in the Parish's senior activities as well.

Founded in 1907, Saint Ambrose is a beacon of light in the Park Heights Community.



Saint Ambrose Catholic Church
4502 Park Heights Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215

COME CELEBRATE WITH US!
Sunday Rosary: 9:30am
Sunday Mass: 10:00am




Saint Ambrose School Building
For information: see www.archbalt.org