Samuel Lombard

Sam Lombard was quirky, articulate and creative. He was an MSU architecture student with a passion for backcountry snowmobiling. But this story is about Sam’s sense of humor and his beloved truck, a battered Chevy Luv. As a senior, Sam faced an architecture assignment that required a personal statement delivered within a design project. Sam chose a street-racing phrase: Run What Ya Brung. He was not a street racer, but he had a philosophical bent. Run What Ya Brung suggests that you bring to your race the equipment you have, with no complaining if you don’t win. He stenciled these words on the left ‘flank’ of the Luv. With a photograph of the little truck snugged up against a big Dodge Ram, David and Goliath style, his assignment was complete. But there was more to Sam than a stoic side. He welded a 14 ft flagpole into the bed of the Luv and flew an enormous black and white pirate flag. You knew when he was coming; the Luv’s muffler was in terrible shape. The combined effect was strangely cheerful. Small children would tug on their parent’s sleeve when the Luv drove by, "Look, Daddy!" Everyone smiled, while Sam glowered like a pirate. Sam was remembered for a long time in Bozeman as the ‘guy with the pirate flag.’ He died by suicide in April 2013.