Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche

Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche 

On the fateful morning of April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic sank into the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean after it collided with an iceberg. On its maiden voyage the Titanic carried 2,224 passengers, over 1,500 perished.

One of those passengers was Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche, a Paris-educated Haitian engineer; accompanying him was his French wife and two daughters, they were on their way to Haiti. Laroche was the only known passenger of African descent on board. 

At 15, he traveled to Beauvais, France to study and after graduating with an engineering degree in 1907, he soon met his wife, Juliette Lafargue and they were married. Even with his advanced education Laroche was unable to find unemployment because of his racial background and the lack of matching qualifications. Growing weary of the struggle he decided to take his family and return to Haiti.

Cincinnatus Leconte, his uncle as well as the President of Haiti offered him a job as a math teacher. While in Paris, France Juliet gave birth to two daughters, Simonne Marie Anne Andrée Laroche , in 1909 and Louise Laroche, born on 2 July 1910. Juliet became pregnant again with their third child in late 1912 and they decided to move up the date so that the baby would be born in Haiti. His mother purchased tickets for first-class aboard the SS La France unaware that they had a policy that did not permit children to dine with the parents. 

The Laroches exchanged their tickets for second-class passage aboard the Titanic and on April 10, 1912, they began their voyage. At 11:40 pm, the Titanic was struck by the iceberg and Joseph woke up his family and he informed Juliette what happened. They gathered their belongings stuffing his pockets with his valuables and money then carried their daughters to the deck of the ship where the crew were preparing the lifeboats to abandoned the Titanic. Women and children were put into the lifeboats first. Joseph wraps his coat around his wife telling her, 

"Here, take this, you are going to need it. I'll get another boat. God be with you.  I'll see you in New York." 

He helped his family down into the lifeboat and climbed back onto the ship. Joseph Laroche went down with the Titanic and his body was never recovered.

Juliette Lafargue returned to Villejuif, France and gave birth to her son. She gave him the name Joseph, after her husband.

Joseph Laroche's youngest daughter Louise Laroche died on January 28, 1998. She was one of the last remaining survivors of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.

 *Note

Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche was born on May 26, 1889 in Cap Haiten, Haiti.  He was the son of a white French army captain and a Haitian woman who was a descendant of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the first ruler of independent Haiti.  Laroche's uncle, Dessalines M. Cincinnatus, was president of Haiti from 1911 to 1912. - http://www.blackpast.org