Leone Frances Pollard, co-founder of Ambassador Tours Inc in San Francisco, has passed away at the age of 84.
Pollard and her husband Stan founded the travel agency in 1955. Their first location was in the lobby of the old Ambassador Hotel in San Francisco, and its “Ambassador Man” character signified that the agency handled worldwide travel.
Pollard oversaw all the accounting, operations, and human resources functions for the agency. She became the president in 1990. Pollard retired in 2002 but stayed involved by escorting Ambassador cruise group tours with her husband and sailing to ports around the world.
Gary Pollard, Pollard's son is now president and CEO of Ambassador Tours. He remembers his mom as an open and highly principled business person, saying, “Mom would always say ’honesty and transparency will always keep your creditability intact’.”
Travel Agent recognized Ambassador Tours and Gary Pollard as a top 25 travel agents in 2009.
Today, Ambassador Tours, a member of Ensemble Travel Group, is in its third generation with Gary’s son, Bryan, currently learning the business as a travel counselor.