Obituary: Sara “Sally” Cronk Lombard

Sara “Sally” Cronk Lombard

SCARBOROUGH – Sara “Sally” Cronk Lombard passed away peacefully at age 92 at Holbrook Health Center at Piper Shores in Scarborough. She was born in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 18, 1933, to Col. W. Glenn Cronk and his wife Elvera, and was proud of her Swedish and Dutch heritage – though she’d lived so many places by the end that she might reasonably have claimed several nationalities.

Sally grew up in China, Hawaii, Europe, and all across the United States, and attended high school in Switzerland and the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

In 1954, Sally married Lt. Reginald T. Lombard Jr. at the Presidio in San Francisco – and promptly continued her family tradition of military service, this time as the consummate Army wife. Over the decades she and Reg were posted overseas and much of the U.S., and Sally became legendarily capable of breaking down one impeccably decorated home and setting up another in record time. Through Reg’s two tours in Korea, two tours in Vietnam, and the fall of Cambodia, she courageously held down the fort alone with their two children, Terry and Kristen – no small thing.

Her homes were always warm, beautiful, and full of flowers from her own gardens. She loved to entertain, hosting the kind of elaborate dinner parties that people remembered for years – which made sense, given that she had trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She was well-read, deeply intelligent, and possessed of a laugh that arrived before she did and filled whatever room she entered.

After Reg’s 34-year Army career ended, the two of them did what any sensible people would do: they moved to Rome, where Reg worked with the Multinational Force and Observers for the Sinai, and Sally embraced La Dolce Vita with characteristic enthusiasm. Later they returned to Maine and founded Lombard Antiquarian Maps and Prints, curating an exquisite collection and building a business around their shared love of history, geography, and the art of printmaking. Their booths were sought after at the most prestigious antique shows in the country, and – ahead of their time – they were early adopters of the internet, selling to collectors worldwide long before most of their peers had figured out email.

Sally is survived by her son Terry Lombard and his wife Cheryl of Cape Elizabeth; and her daughter Kristen Lombard of Northern California; four grandchildren, Jack Lombard, Will Lombard, Anna Lombard, and Shawn Warren; and eight great-grandchildren, all of whom she followed with fierce pride and great joy.

A private ceremony will be held at a future date.

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