The father and son medical doctors, Loring S. Lombard and Reginald T. Lombard, were two of the most well-known doctors in our community in the 1900s. With Loring opening his practice here in 1897 and overlapping with Reginald’s practice continuing until 1981, their practices spanned 85 years.
Let’s take a look at these longtime South Portland physicians.
Dr. Loring S. Lombard. South Portland Historical Society photo
Loring Lombard was born in Baldwin, Maine, in 1867. The son of a farmer, Loring and his siblings grew up working on the family farm in Baldwin. He attended school in Baldwin, then graduated from the North Bridgton Academy in 1889. With an increasing interest in medicine, he began private study, then enrolled in the University of Maine Medical School in 1890, graduating in 1893. He moved to Greene, Maine, and set up a medical practice.
He met and married Laura Thomas in Greene in 1894. Laura was a teacher, but gave up her career when they married. In August, 1896, while still living in Greene, Laura gave birth to their first and only child, Reginald. Not surprisingly, Loring was the attending physician at the birth and signed the birth record.
In the fall of 1896, Loring moved his family and medical practice to South Portland. The Lombards lived in a home on Brown Street (Broadway) at first. In 1897, however, they purchased a lot of land and built a large home at 500 Summer St. (the address of the home later changed to 1046 Broadway) where they lived and sometimes took in boarders for extra income. Loring operated his medical practice from the home, as well. He was a general practitioner and made house calls, as was common in those times.
In 1899, the city of South Portland established the office of “city physician.” Dr. Lombard was hired to serve in this newly-created position, one that he held for 12 years. The city physician’s role was primarily to serve as the doctor for those living at the almshouse or City Home on Anthoine Street and for the “out poor” – those who the city was assisting, but who were living in their own homes.
Having a city physician on retainer was simply a way to control medical costs from year to year. In its first year, the city appropriated $100 for the office, but paid Lombard an annual salary of only $41.66 out of that, thus having a surplus.
Dr. Loring Lombard and his family lived in this large home at 1046 Broadway (known as 500 Summer St. prior to 1929). South Portland Historical Society photo
He also served on the South Portland School Board in 1899, back when James Otis Kaler was serving as our school superintendent. When there were holiday parades in South Portland, sometimes Dr. Lombard could be seen as the parade marshal, leading the parade on horseback.
In addition to being well known and respected in the community as a family doctor, Loring Lombard was known as an avid sportsman. As early as 1898, he was in the newspapers when a group of men from South Portland headed to Rigby Park with their horses for a day of fun, impromptu horse racing.
When they arrived and found the track covered, they all went on to a track in Scarborough where they staged several races with their trotters. Charles N. Trefethen was chosen to act as the starter. Dr. Lombard was chosen to serve as a judge in the stands, along with R.E. Chase and a veterinary surgeon, Otis Sprague. At the end of the day, John Willard’s horse was determined to be faster than Loring Lombard’s horse.
In 1900, he was in the news again, “Dr. Loring S. Lombard of Pleasantdale is a most enthusiastic skater and polo expert. The doctor is always ready for sport in any form, putting into it the same vim and earnestness which characterize his interest in his extensive practice.”
The home at 1046 Broadway today, on the corner of Lombard Street, named for Dr. Loring Lombard. South Portland Historical Society photo
In 1917, Lombard enlisted in the Army Medical Corps, serving at Camp Sevier, South Carolina, and Camp Dix, New Jersey. He was discharged in 1918 with the rank of major, then served in the Medical Officers Reserve Corps and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Reginald Lombard followed in his father’s footsteps. After graduating from South Portland High School in 1915, he graduated from Bowdoin in 1919, and Yale Medical School in 1922. He served a surgical internship at Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut and, while still working there in 1923, married Dorothy Jewett of Bath, Maine.
Once his internship was over, Reginald returned to South Portland with Dorothy where they made their home (they had two children – Deborah and Reginald, Jr.) and where he set up his private practice, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. He bought the home at 598 Main St. in 1926 and lived there for a few years. In 1932, they bought a large property at 793 Main St., consisting of three lots of land taking up the area between Rhode Island Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue. Reginald and Dorothy lived there for many years, with Reginald operating his practice from the home, as well.
Reginald Lombard affiliated himself with Dr. J.B. Drummond and his State Street Hospital for many years, and was also on the staff at Maine General Hospital, Mercy Hospital, and Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Dr. Reginald Lombard. South Portland Historical Society photo
Although their medical careers did overlap, it was not by all that many years as Loring Lombard died of a heart attack at only 65 years of age. He was enjoying an evening service at the Elm Street Methodist Church when he went into cardiac arrest; although attempts were made to revive him, he died at the church.
Other than the difference in medical specialty, Reginald Lombard had a lot in common with his dad. He also loved horses and was a founding member of the Pleasant Hill Polo Club, from 1935 to 1941. During World War II, he also served his country as an officer in the Medical Corps in the Army Reserve.
Reginald Lombard retired from his practice in 1981. He died in 1986 and is buried with his wife Dorothy and their children at Riverside Cemetery in Cape Elizabeth.
South Portland Historical Society offers a free Online Museum with over 16,000 images available for viewing with a keyword search. You can find it at https://sphistory.pastperfectonline.com and, if you appreciate what we do, feel free to make a donation by using the donation button on the home page. If you have photographs or other information to share about South Portland’s past, we would love to hear from you. South Portland Historical Society can be reached at 207-767-7299, by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com, or by mail at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106.
Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society. She can be reached at sphistory04106@gmail.com.
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