SEQUIM –– Bouquets of flowers and notes of remembrance were left at the front entrance of A-1 Auto Parts as makeshift memorials to a man killed in a head-on crash over the weekend.
Eric Ambush, 66, who worked at the auto-parts store, was considered an institution of Sequim’s downtown known for his persistent cheerfulness.
Ambush was killed at the scene when the pickup truck he was driving and another collided on a north-south stretch of Old Olympic Highway northwest of town Saturday morning.
“He was a hell of a guy,” A-1 Manager John Shields said Monday morning. “He had a lot of fun working.”
A-1 closed Saturday after hearing about the wreck, Shields said.
Ambush worked at A-1, 144 W. Washington St., and as a delivery driver for more than six years at the parts counter.
He was remembered by customers for his friendly smile and wide knowledge of the store’s stock.
“He’d always give me a real good, hard time,” said Bob McCroskey, a longtime customer of A-1 who stopped at the shop Sunday afternoon after spotting the flowers on the sidewalk.
“But he could always get you what you wanted, and it always came with a joke.”
Shields said Ambush, retired from a career in the military, worked at the parts shop as more of a hobby and because he enjoyed working with people.
Ambush died after his pickup was struck head-on by a 2000 Ford pickup truck driven by Bernard Emmert, 70, of Sequim, near the intersection of Old Olympic Highway and Mantle Road around 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Ambush was pronounced dead at the scene.
Emmert was listed in satisfactory condition Monday at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles.
Clallam County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating why Emmert’s truck crossed the centerline of the two-lane road.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
