By Rick Wright

Staff Writer

The doors are locked and chairs are empty at Gentleman’s Choice, South Portland’s old-fashioned barbershop that operated for more than 30 years at the corner of Cottage Road and Pillsbury Street.

Robert Stoehr, the shop’s last proprietor, died Feb. 13 at the age of 78 after 60 years as a barber.

The day before he died of a heart attack Stoehr had his lunch packed and was ready for work, said his wife, Loretta. 

“It was his life,” said Stoehr’s daughter, Bonnie Reid of Gorham. “He loved doing what he did. He always enjoyed barbering and going to work. He wouldn’t miss a day of work.”

Occasionally Stoehr would hire a barber to work one day a week so he could get a day off but most of the time he worked alone, Loretta said.

One of Stoehr’s regular customers was South Portland Mayor Tom Coward.

“It was in walking distance,” Coward said. “On a spring morning, it was a very pleasant thing to do.”

The mayor described Gentleman’s Choice as a 1950s style barbershop where he could get a haircut and a beard trim for $12. Business was steady at the shop and on Saturday mornings, the place was full, Coward said.  

“(Stoehr) couldn’t understand why men would go to hairdressers and pay $40 to $50 to get a haircut,” Coward said.

“It was very busy,” Loretta said. “They liked him. He had a lot of regulars.”  

Barbering was a family tradition in the Stoehr household. Stoehr and his father built and operated a barber shop in South Portland’s Redbank Village. 

“It was a little shop,” said Reid. “We lived across the street from it. He and my grandfather would come in. It was their place for gossiping and that kind of thing.”

After graduating from Portland High School, Stoehr served in the Korean War. He was stationed aboard the naval aircraft carrier USS Bennington for four years and learned barbering in the Navy.

For 20 years, Stoehr taught barbering and cosmetology to residents of the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.

“He cut the kids hair up there,” Reid said. “A lot of the boys would register to learn barbering because they really liked my dad. He was real good at what he did.”

“The kids loved him,” Loretta said. At the time, Stoehr was the only person in Maine licensed to teach barbering, she said.

“He was always as cheerful as he could be no matter how sick he was,” Coward said of Stoehr. “It was always a pleasure to go into his shop. He was always interesting to talk to.”

  Loretta said her husband was a people person who enjoyed interacting with his customers. “He was a big joker. He loved the customers joking with him and talking to him. He mainly went into barbering for the customers. That was it.”

“I’m very sorry he’s gone. He was a good guy. I miss him already,” said Coward. 

Sam Dipietro, who owns the building that housed the Gentleman’s Choice, remembered Stoehr as well as other barbers who preceded him. 

“He made house calls. That’s what I liked about him. Bob would come down once a month and give me a haircut.”

Arthur Gonyea and Bill Cyr ran the business before Stoehr. Following Gonyea’s death, Cyr invited Stoehr to work at Gentleman’s Choice as an independent contractor and he  rented a chair in the shop. After Cyr died, Stoehr took over the business.

Dipietro knew all the barbers who owned the business over the years, including the original proprietor, Gordon Casey, who sold Gentleman’s Choice to Gonyea and Cyr.

 All of the barbers had different personalities, said Dipietro. “Bill (Cyr) was a gentleman. That’s where the name Gentleman’s Choice came from.”

The space occupied by the barber shop eventually will be filled by David’s, an adjacent restaurant that is planning to expand. 

Rick Wright can  be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237 or n ws@inthesentry.com.