Victor J. Ambrose, Jr.

Victor Ambrose was born in Manhattan on February 17, 1942. He spent his childhood steeped in Italian Catholic traditions in Astoria and Whitestone, Queens, playing street games like stoop ball and ringolevio and cheering for his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. He graduated from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in 1959 and earned a B.A. in History from St. John’s University in 1966.

Victor was profoundly influenced by the US Civil Rights Movement, which shaped his life’s work. This path began at the New York City Youth Services Agency, where he worked with young people in Bushwick and Sunset Park while taking night classes at St. John’s University School of Law. After earning his JD in 1972, Victor embarked on a nearly 50-year long career in public interest law. He worked for decades at Legal Services of Long Island, primarily as a housing attorney focused on Section 8 disputes and eviction defense. He was also employed for several years as an attorney supervising law students at the Neighborhood Law Office clinic at Hofstra Law School.

Following his retirement in 2017, Victor continued to represent clients pro bono at Legal Services and at Empire Justice Center. He was widely respected in the local legal community for his knowledge and experience, and was frequently consulted by colleagues as a housing expert. Reflecting on his career in 2019, Victor told Legal Services, “In a small way I have tried to bring some justice to my clients.” He often cited his favorite words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

In 1982, Victor met and married Linda Halliday; the wedding invitation Victor wrote instructed guests to leave the gifts and head back out the door. Together they raised two daughters, Justine and Anna Marie, in Sayville on Long Island. Victor relished Christmas; each year he looked forward to meticulously selecting and decorating a resplendent fir tree, so tall it scratched the ceiling, and co-hosting a full house of friends and family whom he regaled with seasonal musings and political proclamations.

Victor was a prolific writer of op-eds, speeches, songs, letters, and cards with rhyming couplets to family and friends. He attended Woodstock in 1969 and loved the doo-wop, folk, and rock music of his youth. It was Victor’s Sunday morning tradition to listen to the WUSB radio show, “Sunday Street.” He was an ardent gymgoer and ocean swimmer.

Victor was a gentle soul. In recent years he would often share his guiding philosophy that all life is precious and that we are obligated to cherish and protect it. In May 2025 Victor told his daughters, “I’d like to be remembered as someone who tried to be kind, and humble, who made people laugh, and who tried to do good during his life.”

Victor is survived by his wife Linda Halliday; daughters Justine and Anna Marie; brother John Ambrose and his wife Avis Ambrose, and their children Jennifer, Jessica, and John; as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, and godchildren. 

Visitation:  Wednesday, November 5th  4:00 - 9:00 p.m. at Raynor & D'Andrea Funeral Home 245 Montauk Hwy. West Sayville

Funeral Mass:  Thursday, November 6th  10:00 a.m. at St. Lawrence the Martyr RC Church 240 W. Main Street Sayville

Following the Funeral Mass at 11:30 a.m., all are welcome to celebrate Victor's life at Sayville United Methodist Church, 164 Greene Avenue in Sayville, for some light refreshments.

In lieu of flowers, online or mail donations may be sent to Legal Services of Long Island: https://legalservicesli.org/donate/