Photos by Jeffrey S. Hall Photography
Margery “Margie” Amorose wasn’t born in Dublin, but since moving here in 1974, Amorose has definitively made Dublin her home.
The story of how Amorose came to Dublin is not a complicated one: She met her husband, David Amorose, when the pair was in school together at Bishop Watterson High School. Amorose was from Columbus and David had lived in Dublin since before he was 3 years old. David would go on to study horticulture and start Buckeye Landscape, a contracting business, on Sawmill Road.
The high school sweethearts looked for somewhere nearby to settle down with their two daughters, Jenny and Chris (or, as Amorose calls her, Chrissy), who were toddlers at the time. What better place than David’s hometown of Dublin?
“There was just a beautiful wooded lot available, it was a little over an acre and it had a creek running through it,” says Amorose. “We found this beautiful lot and we were able to build this dream home. There wasn’t any talking anybody into it.”
Amorose’s first brush with work in local Dublin businesses was at a gala David had been invited to. A grand total of 17 businesses were gathered at the event. After members expressed their desire to be more organized, the group, dubbed the Dublin Businessman’s Organization, approached Amorose about pulling the group together and creating a more legitimate organization.
“I said sure,” says Amorose. “I didn’t know people, and it was just a nice way to get to know people.”
Amorose outside of her Dublin home
Amorose worked from home without the assistance of a computer, as home computers weren’t yet common. Recruiting the help of Jenny and Chris as stampers and labelers, Amorose sent out a monthly newsletter and organized meetings. Eventually, the papers were filed to legitimize the group, under the name of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.
“And voila, here we are,” says Amorose.
The Dublin Amorose had moved into wasn’t quite the same one residents see today. I-270 at Sawmill Road wasn’t yet finished. Jenny and Chris rode horses up and down Sawmill Road without parental supervision. The only traffic light was a flasher on State Rt. 161.
“Dublin was a rural farming community 40 years ago,” says Amorose. “The people are the fabric of this community. They really have been the fabric of what’s good here.”
Most residents will agree that the Dublin Amorose refers to has changed quite a bit. However, the growth it has seen over the last 40 years is no small feat. Under Amorose’s leadership, the Chamber has grown from the original 17 members to, at Amorose’s estimate, between 1,500 and 1,700.
A photo of the Amorose family on a recent family vacation
One of the things Amorose is especially proud of is being a part of the charter commission that wrote the original charter for the City of Dublin – one of the most “important things I might have done,” she says.
“I feel really good about that – the quality of people and the quality of leadership that the Chamber has had over these years,” says Amorose. “There’s a reason the Dublin Chamber is the largest suburban chamber in Ohio.”
Amorose is still director of the Chamber, but even when she’s moved on from the chamber, the building will still be under the protection of an Amorose, as Jenny Amorose fills the role of operating officer.
Jenny began part-time with the Chamber in high school, went on to graduate from Ohio University with a degree in communications and journalism, and would land a job with a major corporation. She traveled frequently, often visiting multiple cities in a single day, and decided to leave in order to start a family. Amorose convinced Jenny to help work on a project for the Chamber and, before Jenny knew it, she had grown back into a job there.
“I’m absolutely proud of what she’s done,” says Amorose.
Chris Amorose Groomes is no stranger to success in Dublin, either. She followed in her father’s footsteps, studying horticulture at The Ohio State University before serving as chair of the Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission. She owns Amorose Landscape Services and is a Dublin City Council member, winning her seat by the largest margin of anyone in the history of the City of Dublin.
With Jenny at the Chamber and Chris having served as chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission and on council as David did, it would appear the Amorose daughters followed closely in their parents’ footsteps.
Amorose considers herself the “luckiest woman in the world” due to her love of her job, her children and her four grandchildren.
“There’s a great deal of pride in that, for Dave and I both,” says Amorose. “One of the things I take really great pride in: Our whole family has been involved in the whole fabric of this community.”
Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
