lieutenant is believed that she, her sister and her father, Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche, were the only people of black descent aboard. Louise Laroche was born on July 2, 1910 in Paris, France to Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche and his wife, Juliette Lafargue.
She was preceded in birth by a sister Simonne Marie Anne Andrée Laroche in 1909. Given this, he decided to move his family back to his native Haiti. The family planned to leave in late 1912, but Juliette discovered she was pregnant for a third time, and Joseph decided to bump up their travel arrangements so the child could be born in Haiti.
They instead transferred their tickets to sail on the Titanic.
Louise and her family boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg, France on April 10, 1912 as second-class passengers. Because of Titanic"s size, she could not fit in Cherbourg"s harbour.
White Star Lincolnshire tenders had to transport passengers out to Titanic, and the Laroche"s were transported aboard the Steamship Nomadic. Shortly after the Titanic struck the iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, Joseph woke Juliette and told her that the ship had suffered an accident.
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 all escaped the ship on this lifeboat.
Joseph died in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified. Since there were none to spare, Juliette improvised and at the end of each meal she would sit on napkins and conceal them and once back in the cabin, make diapers out of them. In March 1995, Louise stepped aboard the Nomadic for the first time since 1912 when it carried her family to the Titanic from Cherbourg, France.
Louise was joined by fellow Titanic survivor Millvina Dean.
That same year, Louise was present as the Titanic Historical Society dedicated a stone marker in Cherbourg commemorating Titanic passengers who sailed from its port. Louise Laroche died on 28 January 1998 at the age of 87.
Her death left six remaining survivors.
