Built a Specialty Practice Focusing on Equine and Farm Liability Coverages
Joseph Paul Lombard of Medway, whose lifelong work with horses led him to create one of the first insurance brokerages in New England devoted to equine and farm risks, died peacefully at his home on April 15, 2025. He was 98.
Born in Brookline on March 20, 1927, to Louis G. and Elanor (Grealy) Lombard, Mr. Lombard was raised on the family farm in Medway, developing the horsemanship skills that would define his career. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he returned home, married, and continued to work the farm while giving riding lessons. In 1971 he moved his growing family back to the original property, transforming it into Saddle Rowe Farm, a training and fox-hunting center where he was both riding instructor and Master of the Tanheath Hunt Club. He also judged horse shows and conducted clinics along the East Coast, earning a reputation for calm authority in the ring.
Seeing firsthand how poorly standard policies addressed the unique exposures of horse owners and stable operators, Mr. Lombard opened Corinthian Insurance Agency in Medway in 1984. From a single desk in the farmhouse vestibule, he built a specialty practice offering equine mortality, farm package, and professional equine liability coverage—lines that are still unfamiliar to most Massachusetts P&C agencies. The firm’s client list expanded nationwide, and today Corinthian remains a family-run brokerage led by his son J. Scott Lombard, continuing the founder’s emphasis on deep field knowledge and hands-on service.
Mr. Lombard remained active in both the insurance office and the barn until nearly 90, prized by colleagues for his easy manner, encyclopedic memory, and conviction that effective risk management begins with understanding how a client actually works a horse. Those who met him seldom forgot the warm smile that accompanied each story from a life spent in the saddle.
He leaves six children—Scott, Richard, Kevin, Gery, Cyndy, and Tina—and five grandchildren, Joseph, Mariah, Olivia, Mattia, and Celia.
Visiting hours were held April 22 at Ginley Crowley Funeral Home, Medway. A funeral service took place April 23 at Bethany Community Church in Mendon, with burial at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Medway.
