Louise Laroche
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| Louise Laroche | |
| Born | 2 July 1910 Paris, France |
|---|---|
| Died | 28 January 1998 Paris, France |
| Parents | Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche and Juliette Marie Louise Lafargue |
Louise Laroche (2 July 1910-28 January 1998) was one of the last remaining survivors of the RMS Titanic disaster of 1912. She and her family are thought to have been the only black passengers on board the ship.
[edit] Early Life and the Titanic
Louise Laroche was born in Paris, France, the second daughter of Joseph Laroche and Juliette Lafargue. She was preceded in birth by an older sister, Simonne Marie Anne Andrée Laroche. Louise was born prematurely and suffered many medical problems in her early childhood.
The Laroche family decided to emigrate to Haiti, where Joseph's family lived. Monsieur Laroche had a degree in engineering, but his dark skin was a barrier at the time and he was unable to find a good job. Whenever he did find employment, his employers made him poorly, claiming he was too young and inexperienced. The family planned to leave at a later time, but Juliette discovered she was pregnant for a third time, and Joseph decided to bump up their travel arraignments while his wife was still in the early stages of her pregnancy. The family originally had plans to travel on La France, but the ship's policy stipulated that children were required to remain in the nursery and were not permitted to eat with their parents, a policy that the Laroches did not like. They instead transferred to passage on the RMS Titanic as Second-Class passengers.
During the train ride to Cherbourg, the Laroches met fellow Second-Class passengers, the Montreal-bound Mallet family, Albert, his wife, Antonine, and their two-year-old son, André, who the two Laroche girls played with during the voyage.
On the night of the sinking, Joseph woke Juliette and told her that the ship had suffered an accident. He put all of their valuables in his pockets, and led his wife, each of them carrying one of their sleeping daughters. It is not known which lifeboat Juliette and the girls escaped in, although Juliette remembered that there was a countess in her boat who rowed all night. There was a countess on board the ship, Noël Leslie, Countess of Rothes, who escaped in lifeboat 8, so it is likely that Juliette, Simonne and Louise escaped the ship on this lifeboat. Joseph died in the sinking. The widowed Juliette met up with Antonine and André Mallet on board the Carpathia. Mr. Mallet had also died in the sinking.
There was no one to meet Julitete and her daughters in New York, so she decided not to continue to Haiti, but returned to her family in Villejuif, France, where she gave birth to a son, named Joseph in honor of his father.
Louise Laroche lived out the rest of her days in France. She died on 28 January 1998. At the time of her death, she was the seventh remaining survivor of the Titanic disaster. She was also the first survivor to die after the release of the 1997 film, Titanic.
