#2974: re: A Haitian was on the Titanic : follow up

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Marc Villain <MVillain@mail.mia.bellsouth.net>

Folks,

For those of you who are interested in this story, here is a follow-up
that I received last week.....

The story of the Laroche family is mentioned in a book in French, " Le
Titanic", written by Dr. Georges Michel, a Haitian physician.
 
A picture of the Laroche family is on display in the book, and here is a
translation of the comments  under the picture:
"From left to right: Simone Laroche, 3 years-old, Juliette Laroche,
(born Lafargue)22 years-old, Louise Laroche, 1 year-old, Joseph Philippe
Lemercier Laroche, 26. This picture was taken in 1912, shortly before
the family embarked on the Titanic to Haiti, and was kindly made
available to us by Ms. Viviane Gauthier, a cousin of the Laroches.
Joseph Laroche, an engineer, was the son of a rich salesman from Cap
Haitien, Mr. Raoul Auguste, (cousin of Haitian president Tancrède
Auguste, successor of  president Leconte in 1912). He was carying his
mother's maiden name, Anne Euzélie Laroche, (Zélie, who died in Cap
Haitien in 1952). Therefore, he was the older brother of our good
 friend the ambassador Carlet Auguste (born in 1903).
 
 At the time of the trip, Mrs. Laroche was expecting a son who was born
 December 17, 1912, and who was named after his father. Simone Laroche 
died of  cancer in 1973. Louise Laroche died in France, in Villejuif, 
January 25, 1998 at 89 years-old, shortly after James Cameron's movie,
Titanic, came out. This last information was provided to us in a letter
dated November 29, 1998 by their sister-in-law, Mrs. Claudine Laroche.
The year 1998 was hard on theLaroches who experienced several losses. In
1911-1912, they also lost a lot of relatives. British documents
improperly refer to the Laroches as LaRoche.

 Another group of Haitians was also scheduled to board the Titanic in
 Cherbourg: The Mevs family and Mrs. Georges Labrousse. The Mevs did
not  make it, and Mrs. Labrousse arrived 15 minutes late, and was
extremely  upset to find out that she would not be allowed to board the
ship.