Lela (AKA Leila) Fairchild Lombard:
(From the Beloit Hall-of-Fame presentation by a Committee sponsored jointly by the Greater Beloit Association of Commerce and the Beloit Historical Society, at a meeting held on the Bartlett Museum site on Sunday, September 9, 1979. Miss Katharine Frederick made the presenation.)
Lela Lombard, a third generation Beloit, Wisconsin resident, was an entertainer in Chautaqua, early radio, and television with a witty personality. She passed away July 18, 1978 at the age of 86 at Caraville Nursing Home.
She was born in Beloit on January 28, 1892, the daughter of John and Mary Donnelly Fairchild and one of 9 children, lived at 730 Euclid Avenue and attended Hackett School. She attended the music department of Beloit College, studying piano, later at the University of Wisconsin and with instructors in Chicago. She, with some of her sisters, formed the Fairchild Ladies Quartette and travelled about accompanied by their brother, Paul, a cellist, who later was with Paul Witman's Orchestra. Lela also played the viola and was a whistler.
Lela Lombard had an interesting and colorful life, travelling all over the world, in all kinds of conveyances, playing before royalty, top brass, and hard rock miners.
She met her husband in Chicago about the time of the torpedoing of the "Lusitania." They were married December 26, 1917 in Beloit at St. Jude's Church. Harry Clyde Lombard had a lovely baritone voice and was also in show business. In 1920, her son Harold, was born, but they continued acting and performing.
They performed on Beloit College's first radio station when people listened on their crystal sets to WEBU. They acted on WLS "Show Boat" out of Chicago, on WGN and WIBO. During World War I, they played at many army camps in the United States. She frequently referred to themselves as "guinea pigs" because on short notice they were asked to appear on telelvision in 1927. They played with Redpath Lyceum and Chautauquas.
In their half century in show business, Lela Lombard and her husband came in contact with renowned celebrities such as "stunning, Lady-like" Marjorie Main, "forceful" Louella Parsons, "quaint" Sterling Holloway and "witty" Edgar Bergen.
At the end of the 1930's, her mother, who livedat 535 Public Avenue, was seriously ill and Lela took care of her for five years. During this time her husband served as Director of USO's and she did solo acts for servicemen at Camp Grant. Near the end of World War II, her mother died and she then took on a 8 year assignment with Columbia Artists, booking concerts and symphonies.
Semi-retired, Lela Lombard and her husband came back to Beloit and lived at 1157 Elm Street. They both were still active until he died in February, 1963. Later she moved to 430 Harrison and then to Caraville.
She appeared in many Beloit Civic Theatre plays such as "Cradle Song", "Light Up The Sky", "Craig's Wife", "Philadelphia Story", and as a last minute assignemtn stayed up all night learning her dialogue for "Solid Gold Cadillac". She said this was her swan song.
Lola Lombard recieved many awards for her service to mankind, The Beloit Booster, active Beloit Treble Clef, Beloit Community Concert, Altrusa, Beloit Symphony Guild, American Legion Auxiliary, YWCA, and Beloit Historical Society. She was twice president of the Catholic Women's Club.
She is survied by a daughter, Mrs. Gerald (Mela) Berry, of Bluffton, Ohio, and her son, Col. Harold F. Lombard, of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, many grandsons and great-grandsons, and a sister, Dorothy Cootey, of Rutland, Vermont. Burial was in the Fairchild plot in Calvary Cemetery and memorials were given to Treble Clef Scholarship Fund.
(From the Beloit Hall-of-Fame presentation by a Committee sponsored jointly by the Greater Beloit Association of Commerce and the Beloit Historical Society, at a meeting held on the Bartlett Museum site on Sunday, September 9, 1979. Miss Katharine Frederick made the presenation.)
Lela Lombard, a third generation Beloit, Wisconsin resident, was an entertainer in Chautaqua, early radio, and television with a witty personality. She passed away July 18, 1978 at the age of 86 at Caraville Nursing Home.
She was born in Beloit on January 28, 1892, the daughter of John and Mary Donnelly Fairchild and one of 9 children, lived at 730 Euclid Avenue and attended Hackett School. She attended the music department of Beloit College, studying piano, later at the University of Wisconsin and with instructors in Chicago. She, with some of her sisters, formed the Fairchild Ladies Quartette and travelled about accompanied by their brother, Paul, a cellist, who later was with Paul Witman's Orchestra. Lela also played the viola and was a whistler.
Lela Lombard had an interesting and colorful life, travelling all over the world, in all kinds of conveyances, playing before royalty, top brass, and hard rock miners.
She met her husband in Chicago about the time of the torpedoing of the "Lusitania." They were married December 26, 1917 in Beloit at St. Jude's Church. Harry Clyde Lombard had a lovely baritone voice and was also in show business. In 1920, her son Harold, was born, but they continued acting and performing.
They performed on Beloit College's first radio station when people listened on their crystal sets to WEBU. They acted on WLS "Show Boat" out of Chicago, on WGN and WIBO. During World War I, they played at many army camps in the United States. She frequently referred to themselves as "guinea pigs" because on short notice they were asked to appear on telelvision in 1927. They played with Redpath Lyceum and Chautauquas.
In their half century in show business, Lela Lombard and her husband came in contact with renowned celebrities such as "stunning, Lady-like" Marjorie Main, "forceful" Louella Parsons, "quaint" Sterling Holloway and "witty" Edgar Bergen.
At the end of the 1930's, her mother, who livedat 535 Public Avenue, was seriously ill and Lela took care of her for five years. During this time her husband served as Director of USO's and she did solo acts for servicemen at Camp Grant. Near the end of World War II, her mother died and she then took on a 8 year assignment with Columbia Artists, booking concerts and symphonies.
Semi-retired, Lela Lombard and her husband came back to Beloit and lived at 1157 Elm Street. They both were still active until he died in February, 1963. Later she moved to 430 Harrison and then to Caraville.
She appeared in many Beloit Civic Theatre plays such as "Cradle Song", "Light Up The Sky", "Craig's Wife", "Philadelphia Story", and as a last minute assignemtn stayed up all night learning her dialogue for "Solid Gold Cadillac". She said this was her swan song.
Lola Lombard recieved many awards for her service to mankind, The Beloit Booster, active Beloit Treble Clef, Beloit Community Concert, Altrusa, Beloit Symphony Guild, American Legion Auxiliary, YWCA, and Beloit Historical Society. She was twice president of the Catholic Women's Club.
She is survied by a daughter, Mrs. Gerald (Mela) Berry, of Bluffton, Ohio, and her son, Col. Harold F. Lombard, of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, many grandsons and great-grandsons, and a sister, Dorothy Cootey, of Rutland, Vermont. Burial was in the Fairchild plot in Calvary Cemetery and memorials were given to Treble Clef Scholarship Fund.
Lela (AKA Leila) Fairchild Lombard:
(From the Beloit Hall-of-Fame presentation by a Committee sponsored jointly by the Greater Beloit Association of Commerce and the Beloit Historical Society, at a meeting held on the Bartlett Museum site on Sunday, September 9, 1979. Miss Katharine Frederick made the presenation.)
Lela Lombard, a third generation Beloit, Wisconsin resident, was an entertainer in Chautaqua, early radio, and television with a witty personality. She passed away July 18, 1978 at the age of 86 at Caraville Nursing Home.
She was born in Beloit on January 28, 1892, the daughter of John and Mary Donnelly Fairchild and one of 9 children, lived at 730 Euclid Avenue and attended Hackett School. She attended the music department of Beloit College, studying piano, later at the University of Wisconsin and with instructors in Chicago. She, with some of her sisters, formed the Fairchild Ladies Quartette and travelled about accompanied by their brother, Paul, a cellist, who later was with Paul Witman's Orchestra. Lela also played the viola and was a whistler.
Lela Lombard had an interesting and colorful life, travelling all over the world, in all kinds of conveyances, playing before royalty, top brass, and hard rock miners.
She met her husband in Chicago about the time of the torpedoing of the "Lusitania." They were married December 26, 1917 in Beloit at St. Jude's Church. Harry Clyde Lombard had a lovely baritone voice and was also in show business. In 1920, her son Harold, was born, but they continued acting and performing.
They performed on Beloit College's first radio station when people listened on their crystal sets to WEBU. They acted on WLS "Show Boat" out of Chicago, on WGN and WIBO. During World War I, they played at many army camps in the United States. She frequently referred to themselves as "guinea pigs" because on short notice they were asked to appear on telelvision in 1927. They played with Redpath Lyceum and Chautauquas.
In their half century in show business, Lela Lombard and her husband came in contact with renowned celebrities such as "stunning, Lady-like" Marjorie Main, "forceful" Louella Parsons, "quaint" Sterling Holloway and "witty" Edgar Bergen.
At the end of the 1930's, her mother, who livedat 535 Public Avenue, was seriously ill and Lela took care of her for five years. During this time her husband served as Director of USO's and she did solo acts for servicemen at Camp Grant. Near the end of World War II, her mother died and she then took on a 8 year assignment with Columbia Artists, booking concerts and symphonies.
Semi-retired, Lela Lombard and her husband came back to Beloit and lived at 1157 Elm Street. They both were still active until he died in February, 1963. Later she moved to 430 Harrison and then to Caraville.
She appeared in many Beloit Civic Theatre plays such as "Cradle Song", "Light Up The Sky", "Craig's Wife", "Philadelphia Story", and as a last minute assignemtn stayed up all night learning her dialogue for "Solid Gold Cadillac". She said this was her swan song.
Lola Lombard recieved many awards for her service to mankind, The Beloit Booster, active Beloit Treble Clef, Beloit Community Concert, Altrusa, Beloit Symphony Guild, American Legion Auxiliary, YWCA, and Beloit Historical Society. She was twice president of the Catholic Women's Club.
She is survied by a daughter, Mrs. Gerald (Mela) Berry, of Bluffton, Ohio, and her son, Col. Harold F. Lombard, of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, many grandsons and great-grandsons, and a sister, Dorothy Cootey, of Rutland, Vermont. Burial was in the Fairchild plot in Calvary Cemetery and memorials were given to Treble Clef Scholarship Fund.
(From the Beloit Hall-of-Fame presentation by a Committee sponsored jointly by the Greater Beloit Association of Commerce and the Beloit Historical Society, at a meeting held on the Bartlett Museum site on Sunday, September 9, 1979. Miss Katharine Frederick made the presenation.)
Lela Lombard, a third generation Beloit, Wisconsin resident, was an entertainer in Chautaqua, early radio, and television with a witty personality. She passed away July 18, 1978 at the age of 86 at Caraville Nursing Home.
She was born in Beloit on January 28, 1892, the daughter of John and Mary Donnelly Fairchild and one of 9 children, lived at 730 Euclid Avenue and attended Hackett School. She attended the music department of Beloit College, studying piano, later at the University of Wisconsin and with instructors in Chicago. She, with some of her sisters, formed the Fairchild Ladies Quartette and travelled about accompanied by their brother, Paul, a cellist, who later was with Paul Witman's Orchestra. Lela also played the viola and was a whistler.
Lela Lombard had an interesting and colorful life, travelling all over the world, in all kinds of conveyances, playing before royalty, top brass, and hard rock miners.
She met her husband in Chicago about the time of the torpedoing of the "Lusitania." They were married December 26, 1917 in Beloit at St. Jude's Church. Harry Clyde Lombard had a lovely baritone voice and was also in show business. In 1920, her son Harold, was born, but they continued acting and performing.
They performed on Beloit College's first radio station when people listened on their crystal sets to WEBU. They acted on WLS "Show Boat" out of Chicago, on WGN and WIBO. During World War I, they played at many army camps in the United States. She frequently referred to themselves as "guinea pigs" because on short notice they were asked to appear on telelvision in 1927. They played with Redpath Lyceum and Chautauquas.
In their half century in show business, Lela Lombard and her husband came in contact with renowned celebrities such as "stunning, Lady-like" Marjorie Main, "forceful" Louella Parsons, "quaint" Sterling Holloway and "witty" Edgar Bergen.
At the end of the 1930's, her mother, who livedat 535 Public Avenue, was seriously ill and Lela took care of her for five years. During this time her husband served as Director of USO's and she did solo acts for servicemen at Camp Grant. Near the end of World War II, her mother died and she then took on a 8 year assignment with Columbia Artists, booking concerts and symphonies.
Semi-retired, Lela Lombard and her husband came back to Beloit and lived at 1157 Elm Street. They both were still active until he died in February, 1963. Later she moved to 430 Harrison and then to Caraville.
She appeared in many Beloit Civic Theatre plays such as "Cradle Song", "Light Up The Sky", "Craig's Wife", "Philadelphia Story", and as a last minute assignemtn stayed up all night learning her dialogue for "Solid Gold Cadillac". She said this was her swan song.
Lola Lombard recieved many awards for her service to mankind, The Beloit Booster, active Beloit Treble Clef, Beloit Community Concert, Altrusa, Beloit Symphony Guild, American Legion Auxiliary, YWCA, and Beloit Historical Society. She was twice president of the Catholic Women's Club.
She is survied by a daughter, Mrs. Gerald (Mela) Berry, of Bluffton, Ohio, and her son, Col. Harold F. Lombard, of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, many grandsons and great-grandsons, and a sister, Dorothy Cootey, of Rutland, Vermont. Burial was in the Fairchild plot in Calvary Cemetery and memorials were given to Treble Clef Scholarship Fund.
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