Christian LaRouche, founding museum director, has died

LaRoche opened the historical museum in Valparaiso in 1971 and helped collect and preserve thousands of artifacts from the local area. She retired as executive director of the museum in 2000.

A resident of Niceville, LaRoche was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in 1997.

LaRoche had a love for the arts. She studied art history in college earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees. When Okaloosa-Walton Community College announced plans for its new Visual Arts Building at The Arts Center, LaRoche was one of the first benefactors to step forward, making a major gift of $70,000 to the building fund and the Christian LaRoche History Scholarship Endowment.

A memorial service for LaRoche will be held at 5 p.m. April 12 at OWC’s Fine Arts Center.