Tot Lot Park to honor longtime Pricedale resident

For her 86th birthday Sunday, Betty Ambler's family had a surprise for her: The Tot Lot Park in the Pricedale section of Rostraver, which she had watched over for years, was renamed Betty Ambler Park.

Ambler raised 11 children, but her extended family stretched throughout her neighborhood.

“Our family grew up in the park,” said her grandson, Ryan Galiotto. “Grandma's family was bigger than the 11 kids. The children in the neighborhood were pretty much her kids.

“If you were a kid growing up in Pricedale, you were one of her children or grandchildren.”

A lifelong resident of Pricedale, Ambler has lived next door to the park for more than 30 years. But she's been more like a caretaker for the park and a block mother to the children who played in the park along Zundel Street.

Galiotto came up with the idea to honor his grandmother by naming the park for her. When he approached the township recreation committee with his idea last month, Galiotto said he was surprised to learn the board members remembered Ambler and thought it was a good idea. They voted unanimously to rename the site as Betty Ambler Park.

“The park became her ‘baby,'” said her grandson, Ryan Galiotto. “She would look out after the kids, and if kids were playing she would take them cookies and snacks and bottles of water.”

Additionally, Ambler would alert township officials if the grass needed to be cut or the fence needed repaired.

“She was like the overseer of the park,” Galiotto said. “She was always there.”

Ambler was surrounded by her family for the dedication ceremony Sunday. Her husband, Leon, died in 1998.

Signs designating the new park name will be erected in the spring, Galiotto said.

Recreation committee members Tom Godzak (chairman), John DiVirgilio and township commissioner Gary Beck (co-chair) attended the dedication Sunday.

Beck said he met Ambler several years ago, just prior to taking office.

“She's always taken care of the park, and we felt it was the right thing to do,” Beck said.

Chris Buckley is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at cbuckley@tribweb.com or 724-684-2642.