Ernest Joseph Ament, Wayne State University associate professor emeritus and former chair of the university’s Classics Department, died peacefully in the care of his family on Aug. 19, having recently celebrated his 93rd birthday and 56th wedding anniversary. A 50-year resident of Grosse Pointe Park, he moved in 2019 to Dearborn where he remained active until a one-year battle with cancer.
With his expansive intellect, boundless curiosity, and potent sense of humor, Ernest was a magnetic, effortless teacher whose immense impact on students was equaled by an incalculable influence on family and friends. A rare and dynamic generalist, he was a lifelong student of the humanities and sciences, reading extensively in virtually every discipline and consuming arts and culture wherever he lived. He shared all that he learned, eager to discuss and debate ideas with young and old.
The third of four children, Ernest was born to Albert and Laura (Murray) Ament on Aug. 6, 1929, in Anamosa, Iowa. The sociable, industrious owners of the town general store, Ament’s Dry Goods, Albert and Laura raised their children in a loving, playful home and instilled in them devotion to family, hard work, the Catholic faith, and education. Despite having had limited schooling themselves, Albert and Laura prioritized learning and dedicated their resources to the education of their children.
At age 14, Ernest left Iowa to attend Campion Jesuit High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisc. It was a formative experience that introduced Ernest to his closest friends and lifelong passion, classical studies. After graduating from Campion, Ernest continued his Jesuit education at John Carroll University in Cleveland, where he set university track and field records in shot put and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Classics in 1951, and then at Saint Louis University in Missouri, where he earned a Master of Arts in Classics in 1953.
The Korean War interrupted Ernest’s graduate studies: From 1952-54 he served in the United States Army, which assigned him to the Counterintelligence Corps and stationed him in Stuttgart, Germany, where he forged friendships with German relatives on his father’s side. After several weeks of post-discharge travel throughout northern Africa and Europe – his most significant stops being the ruins of ancient Greece and Rome – Ernest returned to Saint Louis University and earned a Ph.D. in Classics in 1958.
He then embarked on a 40-year career teaching Classics, first at the University of Ottawa in Canada (1958-61), then at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (1961-66). Ernest found California exhilarating – honing his craft in the classroom and exploring the city – but his bachelor days would not last long. A young English woman named Beryl Parsons, fresh from undergraduate studies at the University of London, arrived at USC to pursue a master’s in Classics. Beautiful, brilliant and witty, she proved to be Ernest’s match in Classics and in life. They married in 1966 and were parted only by his death 56 years later.
Immediately following their marriage, Ernest accepted a teaching position in the Classics Department at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he would remain until his retirement in 1996. During his tenure as chair, he raised money for the first-ever endowed chair of the Modern Greek Department and established a lecture series in honor of his dear friend Thomas L. Conklin. He published, edited and advised on articles for students and colleagues, oversaw the selection of new faculty, and most importantly inspired innumerable undergraduate and graduate students with his knowledge, humor and zest. It was his great delight to receive calls and visits from former students who remembered him.
Ernest’s greatest calling was as husband and father. With Beryl, he raised his five children in a home filled with laughter and conversation. A promoter of cultural literacy, Ernest introduced his kids to film, music, literature, art, and philosophy, always encouraging them to form and discuss their own opinions. He encouraged their love of games and sports, expected hard work during Saturday morning chores, and nurtured their faith in God with regular worship at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Park, prayer at home, and by sending them to Jesuit universities. An avid genealogist, he loved reunions and road trips to see relatives, often making detours to cemeteries to scour headstones as he researched the family tree.
During his long retirement, Ernest doted on his 23 grandchildren and was most content to be with Beryl “puttering” around their home. He could be found reading the paper or tending vegetables in their teeming garden, making toys in his workshop, watching his beloved Notre Dame play football (or Duke play basketball), and pursuing countless writing projects at his computer.
Ernest was predeceased by his brother the Reverend Robert Ament and sister Mary Florence (Michael) Whalen. He is survived by wife Beryl; sons Albert (Godelive) of Manassas, Va., and Andrew (Marcie) of Rockville, Md.; daughters Kate (Ronald) Bernas of Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., Elizabeth (Jeffrey) Rummel of Canton, Mich., and Lucy (Peter) Hern of Marana, Ariz., and grandchildren Emmanuel, Alexander, Frederick, Nathaniel, Patrick, Charles, Daniel, Eleanor, Benjamin, Evelyn, Caroline, Henry, Lydia, Liesl, Theodore, Linus, Sebastian, Josephine, Veronica, Blake, Joseph, Gladys and Ronan. He is also survived by sister Mary Ann (John) McCluskey of Glen Ellyn, Ill., and many cherished nieces and nephews and their families.
Visitation Sunday from 1-8 pm at Stanley Turowski Funeral Home, 25509 W. Warren, Dearborn Heights. Instate Monday at 10 am until time of Mass at 10:30 am at St. Alphonsus-St. Clement Parish
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Solanus Casey Center in Detroit.