Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

History

'Doc' doled out remedies, refreshments at the beach

Doc Lamb embodied the small-town pharmacist who dispensed medicine, advice and ice cream.

By SCOTT TAYLOR HARTZELL
Published August 24, 2005

ST. PETE BEACH - From 1948 until 1973, residents trusted pharmacist Robert "Doc" Lamb to relieve their maladies.

"He loved the people," said local Peggy Murrell, 82. "He knew you and you knew him. "Doc was a country pharmacist. He tried to make this little town grow."

Upon arriving here in 1948, Lamb became the first modern-day pharmacist in St. Pete Beach. He expanded his business to Treasure Island eight years later. By 1965, he had opened his third store, also in St. Pete Beach. Lamb offered warm advice amid an atmosphere drenched with Americana, soda fountain and all.

"When I picture Doc, I see a small-town pharmacist," said Carol Upham, 70, former Lamb employee and wife of Upham Beach developer William W. Upham. "I see a Norman Rockwell painting."

Lamb belonged to the Florida Pharmaceutical Association. Outside his field, he immersed himself in St. Pete Beach's civic affairs, once presiding over the Chamber of Commerce. "Lamb was involved in most every civic organization or drive underfoot," beach historian Frank T. Hurley Jr. said.

On Jan. 4, 1912, in Webster, Robert Lee Lamb was born the youngest of 11 children within his tenant-farming family. He graduated from Leesburg High School in Leesburg about 1930. "He was the 5-foot-6, 165-pound fullback on the school's football team," said Larry Lamb, 49, the pharmacist's son.

In the early 1940s, Tibbal's Drug Store in Umatilla provided Lamb with basic pharmaceutical experience. At age 29 in 1941, Lamb married Mary Elizabeth Stevenson of Lake Wales. The couple would have three children.

During World War II, the Army honored Lamb for his handling of medical supplies at Drew Air Force Base. "After the war, my parents lived in Gainesville," said Roberta Whipple, 53, Lamb's daughter. "Mom traveled . . . as a home economics and science instructor."

About 1944, Lamb enrolled at the University of Florida under the G.I. Bill. At UF, Lamb used flash cards to learn organic chemistry, made the dean's list and belonged to three honorary fraternities. He graduated in 1948 with highest honors from the then all-male institution with a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy.

After arriving here about 1948, Lamb worked for the Arcade Drug Store in Largo. Mrs. Lamb's first eight years of teaching income enabled Lamb to open Lamb's Pharmacy in 1949 at 432 75th Ave., the only pharmacy in St. Pete Beach. About 1950 he moved to 400 75th Ave., a 2,000-square-foot structure.

"I can remember daddy counting the pills, filling prescriptions," said Carolyn Wachsmuth, 54, Lamb's firstborn. "Customers would ask him all kinds of medical questions."

Whipple worked in the magazine section and the soda fountain.

"Ice cream cones, sodas, malted milks, banana splits . . . cherry cokes as well," she said. "Mother baked Mrs. Smith's pies at home that daddy brought into" his Rexall franchise.

In 1956 "Doc" opened a second store in Treasure Island at 145 107th Ave., which later moved to 103 104th Ave. He opened Lamb's Fun in the Sun Sundries - a tourist shop - in 1965 at 6340 Gulf Blvd. in St. Pete Beach. It later moved to 6505 Gulf Blvd. Lamb designed and constructed the buildings where the businesses settled.

In the 1960s, Lamb involved himself in the Gulf Beach Rotary Club and the St. Pete Beach Chamber of Commerce. He attended a Tampa chamber meeting featuring President John F. Kennedy the week of his assassination. Lamb served as chamber president from 1964 to 1965.

By 1973, Lamb had closed his stores. Before retiring in 1983 at age 71, Lamb worked for Walgreens and Kmart pharmacies.

"I don't think dad was as happy as he was when he had his stores," Larry Lamb said.

In 1986, Lamb died at Bayfront Medical Center while recovering from previous surgery in Texas. He was 74. In spring of 2000, the city included Lamb's name in the Honor Walk on Upham Beach.

Scott Taylor Hartzell can be reached at hartzel@msn.com

[Last modified August 24, 2005, 01:15:20]