Ambrose Handel, 91

Dr. Ambrose B . Van Handel, 91, of Boise, formerly of Hammett, died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at a Boise Hospital of natural causes.

Services were held Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004, at Cloverdale Funeral Home in Boise.

He was born May 26, 1912, in Green Bay, Wisc., to John and Nellie Van Handel.

A 1931 graduate of East High, Green Bay, Wisc., he attended Marquette University Dental School in Milwaukee, Wisc., graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1938 with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery.

While attending Marquette he was an assistant professor in pharmacology and dental therapeutics as well as president of his class in his junior year. He was a member of Delta Sigma Delta, the national dental fraternity, and was elected to Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the honorary dental fraternity, in his senior year.

Ambrose married Phyllis Murray in 1941 and they shared their lives together for 60 years and raised five children.

Dr. Van Handel practiced general dentistry in the Northern Building in Green Bay for four years before entering the U.S, Army Dental Corps during World War II as a 1st Lieutenant. He served in the European Theater of Operations as oral surgeon for the 252nd General Hospital and later as oral surgeon for the 1st General Hospital. After the war, he was honorably discharged with the rank of major.

He practiced dentistry in Cali-rornia from 1946 to 1978 when he and Phyllis retired and moved to Hammett. He and Phyllis enjoyed their retirement on the Snake River with active outdoor living, fishing and observing the wildlife. He and Phyllis later moved to the Alterra assisted living residence in Boise, where he was residing at the time of his death.

He was the president of a research and development corporation, specializing in new and unique dental products. He was awarded a number of U. S. Patents as a result of his research work in dentistry.

Dr, Van Handel and his wife were devout, traditionalist Catholics all of their lives.

He is survived by: his children, Janis Wilson of Meridian; Joan Rombach of Canyon Country, Calif.; William Van Handel of Sacramento, Calif.; and, Kathleen Jensen of Boise; and his sisters, Agnes and Dorothy Jane and brother Jerome, as well as 4 grandchildren and 6 great- grandchildren, with his 7th great-grandchild scheduled to be born in March.

Dr. Van Handel's wife, Phyllis, daughter Mary, and sister Kathryn preceded him in death.

Memorial contributions may be made in Ambrose Van Handel's name to Saint Luke's Health Foundation, Children's Hospital, 190 E. Bannock Street, Boise, Idaho, 83712.