
Joseph Laroche
Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche was a Haitian engineer. He was one of only three passengers of known African ancestry, with the other two being his children, on the ill-fated voyage of RMS Titanic.
He put his pregnant French wife and their two daughters into a lifeboat which meant their survival, but he was lost.
Early life[]
Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche was born on May 26, 1886 in Cap-Haïtien, Haïti. He was the son of Euzélie Laroche and his wife, Ann Laroche. Joseph grew up in a significant Haitian family. When he was 14, his parents sent him to France to study engineering. In 1901, at the age of 14 or 15, Joseph was sent to Beauvais, France to study. He achieved a degree in engineering.
On 18 March, 1908 he married a French woman named Juliette Marie Louise Lafargue. Their wedding took place in Villejuif. Due to the racial discrimination that was usual in those times however, he had difficulty finding work. Tired of living off his wine selling father-in-law, he decided to return to Haiti with his growing family. His uncle, Cincinnatus Leconte, the President of Haiti, arranged a job for him as a math teacher.
Three children would be born from the marriage, one of them much later after the disaster. The eldest was Simonne Marie Anne Andrée Laroche, born in Villejuif. On July 2, 1910, a sister would be born: Louise Laroche. She was born prematurely and had a few health issues. Juliette's third pregnancy hastened the emigration projects, as the couple wanted to be in Haiti for the birth and leave before Juliette's condition made travel impossible.
Voyage[]
The family planned to leave France in late 1912, but Juliette discovered she was pregnant for a third time, and Joseph decided to hasten their travel arrangements so the child could be born in Haïti.
Joseph's mother purchased First Class passage for the family aboard the liner SS France. However, the Laroches learned of the French Line's policy stipulating that children were required to remain in the nursery and were not permitted to dine with their parents. Because they didn't approve of this rule and wished to keep an eye on their youngest child, they exchanged their tickets for a Second Class passage aboard RMS Titanic.
Titanic was too large for the harbor at Cherbourg, France, so White Star Line had two special tenders which transported the passengers boarding from Cherbourg. One was for Third Class, the other was for Second and First Class passengers, the SS Nomadic. The family was on this tender too on the 10th of April.
Disaster[]
Shortly after Titanic struck the iceberg at 11:40 P.M. on April 14, Joseph came running ot their cabin after enjoying a good time in the Second Class Smoking Room where he conversed with other men. He woke Juliette and told her that the ship had suffered an accident. He put all of their valuables in his pockets, and he and his wife carried each of their sleeping daughters to the ship's top deck. It is not known for sure which lifeboat Juliette and her daughters boarded, although Juliette remembered a countess being in her lifeboat. There was a countess, Noël Leslie, Countess of Rothes, on board the ship who escaped in lifeboat 8, so it is likely that Juliette, Simonne and Louise all escaped aboard this lifeboat or may had been lifeboat 14. Collapsible C is also mentioned as a possible lifeboat they escaped in. Joseph died in the sinking of Titanic, his body was never recovered.
Later in the morning of April 15, Juliette and her daughters were rescued by RMS Carpathia. The two young sisters were hauled up to the deck in burlap bags. On board Carpathia, Juliette found it very hard to get linens which she could use as diapers for her children. Since there were none to spare, Juliette improvised and at the end of each meal she would sit on napkins, conceal them and make diapers out of them after returning to the cabin. Carpathia arrived in New York on April 18. Since there was no one to meet Juliette and her daughters, Juliette decided not to continue to Haiti. Instead, she returned to her family in Villejuif, France. The family arrived the next month, and it was there that Juliette gave birth to her son. On December 17th, 1912 her son was conceived, and named Joseph, in honor of his late father.
Legacy[]
Joseph's youngest daughter, Louise Laroche lived until 28 January 1998. She was one of the last remaining survivors of the sinking of RMS Titanic.
LaRoche, a three-act opera by Atlanta composer Sharon J. Willis, is based on his life and was part of the 2003 National Black Arts Festival, premiering at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center on July 18 of that year.