Rudy Lombard’s life memorialized by family and friends

By Charmaine Jackson
Contributing Writer

Family and friends gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Rudolph “Rudy” Lombard, which took place in the newly minted exhibition space of the Myrtle Banks building. Prospect 3. Exhibition, titled “Above the Canal: Rights and Revival” was extended for Rudy’s memorial, according to Jeanne Nathan, executive director of Creative Alliance of New Orleans (CAN).

The photo montage, complementary for the occasion, included images depicting the struggles during the Civil Rights Movement in Central City, a time when Dr. Rudy Lombard navigated a life from his native New Orleans and beyond to serve the African-American community.

Since Rudy’s passing in December, his youngest brother, 4th Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Edwin Lombard put together a committee to have a memorial “in an effort to get closure for those people who were close to him.”

LOMBARD

During the memorial, Lombard showed family pictures and played a compilation of video footage, which all painted an intimate portrait of his life, both personally and professionally. In one clip, Rudy is seen dancing with family and friends in a second-line after matriarch Lombard’s funeral. There was also a scene of 24-year-old Rudy sitting among crowds of people at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. You could hear echoes in the room of people saying, “I remember” and other sounds of affirmation.

“He captured everybody in the room,” stated Alan Gartner, a member of the National Congress on Racial Equality (CORE). “He was a man about business, who was not interested in bright lights, but interested in ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” he added. All those present witnessed the charismatic Rudy passionately addressing members of the community in a local church, not like strangers, but like family. The audio, while faint, you could hear him rhythmically say, “If you want to be free, stick with me.” He then continued to motivate them and said, “We’re gonna fight to the end, until we can’t fight no more.” Rudy’s definition of fight was a unique one because he believed in promoting a “non-violent trickery” strategy, a close friend mentioned, such as the time when Rudy and other local activists staged a sit-in at McCroy’s, a segregated lunch counter, which resulted in U.S. Supreme Court case Lombard v. State of Louisiana. Lombard won.

A host of close family friends, fellow activists, including members of the New Orleans CORE shared fond memories of their time with Rudy. It was clear he was a loyal friend to many. “He was always there,” Ron, his roommate from Syracuse University said. He made thoughtful gestures like attending a friend’s wedding, a bar mitzvah, and also cooking for a friend’s wedding. The two-minute limit slipped the minds of many who participated and Lombard jokingly pretended to report the time overage, which garnered laughs across the room.

A sentiment repeated often during the expressions portion of the memorial: Rudy loved to give people nicknames. Waldo Jeff, who was nicknamed Captain Strong, recalls Rudy being an impeccable dresser who always had on a suit and tie. “He was like a brother and there is no way we can ever replace the brother that was Rudy because everything about him was about us.” Another friend, Ronnie, recalled the intense moment when Rudy climbed into a fig tree in an effort to see “what was going on” after the Klu Klux Klan attacked a church he and other CORE members occupied after a demonstration.

He was one of the smartest people that I know Lombard said of his brother. “He was Google, before Google was invented,” he said. In honor of Rudy’s love of education, friend and attorney Keith Doley announced the Dr. Rudy Lombard Scholarship fund, which will provides financial assistance to students.

Rudy was a lover of jazz music. At the ceremony’s conclusion, the Tremé Brass Band played as a second-line formed in the street, in true New Orleans fashion. All for Rudy.

This article originally published in the March 2, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.