Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....La Roche, Walter Paul November 9, 1865 - February 13, 1928
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Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com June 12, 2009, 9:03 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     WALTER PAUL LA ROCHE.  Devotion to duty was an outstanding trait in the 
career of Walter Paul La Roche, whose record conferred honor and distinction 
upon the Portland bar, of which he was a member for twenty-three years. Broad-
minded, unselfish and public-spirited, he exerted his talents as readily for 
the general good as for his own interests, and his influence upon the life of 
the city was of the highest order. He was born November 9, 1865, in Savannah, 
Georgia, and was of French, English and Scotch lineage.

     The La Roches were originally from France and went to England with 
William the Conqueror. The name figures prominently on the pages of English 
history and John La Roche, an illustrious member of the family, was sent by 
King George II on a mission to the new world in 1733. He was accompanied by 
his brother, Isaac La Roche, and assisted in planning and laying out the 
streets of Savannah. According to the original plan, one of the sixteen 
tithings of the city was named in compliment to him by General Oglethorpe and 
it is still known as La Roche tithing. Later on John La Roche returned to 
England and was appointed privy counselor to the king.

     His brother, Isaac La Roche, remained in America and married Elizabeth 
Drummond, a cultured Scotch lady of rare beauty, who came to this country with 
her brother, Dr. Archibald Drummond. They were the only surviving members of 
the Drummond family and shortly after the marriage of Elizabeth her brother 
went to the West Indies, settling in Jamaica, where he accumulated a large 
fortune, which he bequeathed to his sister. The latter intrusted the recovery 
of the legacy to General Flournoy, of Augusta, Georgia, but failed to secure 
the property.

     Isaac and Elizabeth La Roche were the parents of three children: Isaac 
(II), Sarah and Elizabeth. After the birth of the third child the father died 
and the mother remarried. Isaac La Roche (II) was an ardent patriot and served 
in the Revolutionary war. His sister Elizabeth married a Mr. Craft and Sarah 
became the wife of a Mr. Votee. Isaac married Elizabeth Oliver, a daughter of 
James and Sarah (McKay) Oliver. The last named was left an orphan when very 
young and was reared by her uncle, Randolph Spalding, who lived near St. 
Marys, Georgia. James Oliver was graduated from Oxford College and left 
England in his youth. He espoused the cause of the American colonists and at 
his own expense uniformed and equipped a military company to fight the 
British. Mr. Oliver acquired considerable wealth and while a resident of 
Augusta, Georgia, was engaged in merchandising on an extensive scale at 
Charleston, South Carolina, in partnership with General Nash. To Isaac and 
Elizabeth (Oliver) La Roche were born seven children: Sarah E., James A., 
Oliver A., Isaac D., Adrian V., Lawrence and John. The father died about the 
year 1822 and his widow afterward became the wife of a Dr. Beaudry, by whom 
she had one child, a daughter. Isaac D. La Roche, the father of Walter P. La 
Roche, became a successful business man but lost his wealth during the Civil 
war, when his store of cotton, valued at eight hundred thousand dollars, was 
either burned or confiscated by Sherman's army. The maternal forbears of 
Walter P. La Roche were also men of note and his great-grandfather, Paul 
Morin, was a member of a colony of Huguenots who settled in Savannah at an 
early period in the history of the city.

     Walter P. La Roche was the sixth in a family of nine children and 
attended the public schools of his native city and Chatham Academy. At the age 
of sixteen he determined to fit himself for a legal career but first sought 
business experience, becoming a collector for a coal company, which paid him a 
salary of five dollars per week. A year later he began his law studies in the 
office of John M. Guerrard, with whom he spent four years. During that time he 
took a summer course in the University of Virginia at Charlottesville and in 
1886, when a young man of twenty-one, was admitted to the bar of Georgia. For 
nineteen years he followed his profession in Savannah and won the greatest 
number of cases of any lawyer practicing before the supreme court of Georgia. 
His success as an advocate won for him more than local prominence and he was 
called upon to try cases in all of the large cities of the south and east. In 
New York city he was particularly well known and declined an offer to practice 
law in that metropolis. Mr. La Roche's widespread professional activities 
brought him into close contact with many lawyers and jurists of note and he 
was intimately acquainted with the Hon. Peter A. Meldrum, at one time 
president of the American Bar Association. Deeply interested in Savannah's 
welfare and progress, Mr. La Roche joined the Citizens Club, which was 
instrumental in cleaning up corrupt local politics. In 1896 he purchased a 
country home, situated five miles from the city, in a locality much in need of 
a good road. The improvement of the thoroughfare was blocked by political 
manipulations and, tiring of these delays, Mr. La Roche organized a group of 
neighbors and undertook the task of building the road. He made the surveys 
himself, also supervising the work of construction, and by this act aroused 
such a strong public sentiment that the authorities were compelled to 
cooperate with him in the task of completing the road, which today is known as 
La Roche avenue. It is a wide, well paved thoroughfare and has been the scene 
of some national automobile races. He was greatly interested in the progress 
of Savannah as a seaport and heartily cooperated in movements for the 
betterment of the city. From 1898 until 1900 he was a member of the lower 
house of the Georgia legislature and owing to his record was tendered the 
congressional nomination, which he declined, as he was not eager for political 
preferment.

     Mr. La Roche's arduous efforts as a road builder had seriously undermined 
his health and his physicians advised a change of climate. In 1903 he made a 
trip to the Pacific northwest and two years later established his home in 
Portland. His legal acumen soon won recognition and he was intrusted with 
important litigation, building up a large practice. He brought with him his 
interest in municipal and port affairs and made a close study of Portland's 
needs and possibilities. In 1912, when the commission form of government was 
approved by Portland, he was appointed city attorney, succeeding Frank S. 
Grant, and faithfully and efficiently served the municipality in that capacity 
for nine years. On March 6, 1921, he tendered his resignation, becoming chief 
counsel for John L. Etheridge, president of Morris Brothers, Inc., investment 
bankers, and later was appointed attorney for the Portland commission public 
docks, a position which he filled until his death on February 13, 1928, at the 
age of sixty-two years. Felicitous and clear in argument, he had the rare 
faculty of seizing upon the strong points of a case and presenting them with 
such force as to rivet the attention of both judge and jury and carry 
convictions to their minds. Ever a diligent and patient inquirer after the 
truth, his power of concentration and clear mental perception enabled him to 
readily penetrate to the root of a matter, and he was noted for the depth and 
breadth of his knowledge of any subject which engaged his attention.

     Mr. La Roche was married April 14, 1891, in Savannah to Miss Nan Dewson, 
whose father became a captain in the Confederate army and later won the 
commission of colonel. After the Civil war Colonel Dewson devoted his 
attention to the practice of law and was general counsel for the Florida 
Railway & Navigation Company, now the Seaboard Air Line. To Mr. and Mrs. La 
Roche were born nine children, six of whom survive: Marie, who is the wife of 
C. H. Weston; Rosalie, who is Mrs. Adrian Hewitt; Elsie; George D., who 
married Lenore Bloesing; Dorothy, at home; and Lois, who was united in 
marriage to George Mimnaugh, of Portland. All are living in the Rose city and 
Mrs. La Roche resides in the family home at No. 2845 Sixty-second street, 
southeast. She is a devoted mother and represents a fine type of womanhood: 
Her son, George D. La Roche, is a graduate of the University of Oregon and a 
lawyer of high standing. He succeeded his father as attorney for the port of 
Portland commission and also has charge of the legal interests of the Railway 
Terminal Association of this city.

     Mr. La Roche took justifiable pride in his children and his home life was 
ideal. His summer residences were situated on Oswego lake, and near Mount 
Hood, and motoring, golfing and fishing afforded him relaxation and diversion. 
He was a student of history and literature as well as legal science and his 
tastes were all of an uplifting order. A gifted conversationalist, he was a 
notable figure in the social life of Portland and his talents as a public 
speaker were in constant demand. To Mr. La Roche the development and 
utilization of the natural resources of the Columbia river basin and the 
geographical and commercial supremacy of Portland were matters of great import 
and to this end he devoted the full service of a finely tempered mind. He 
mastered the fundamental principles of transportation, terminal facilities, 
world commerce and port problems. His articles on "Portland as a Port" were 
widely read and his last address before the Chamber of Commerce on this 
subject he was obliged to repeat four times. He was a strong advocate of what 
is known as the Greeley cutoff and he exerted every effort to further the 
progress of the city and State of his adoption. Mr. La Roche was a Scottish 
Rite Mason and a Noble of Al Kader Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Portland. He 
was also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and the Loyal Order 
of Moose, while his religious views were in accord with the teachings of the 
Episcopal church, of which he was a consistent member. His career was 
conspicuously useful and the beauty of his character, his rare talents and 
marked public spirit made him universally admired and esteemed.

Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 865-867



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