A man with Flin Flon roots is looking for help in tracing his family’s history and finding out more about his family’s former home in town.
Jeff Roche is looking to find out more about the home his family lived in during Flin Flon’s formative years. Now living in California, Roche is the grandson of Maurice and Enid Roche. When Maurice retired from Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting (HBM&S) in around 1960, the family, along with their seven children, moved south, first to Winnipeg and then eventually to California.
Roche wants to find any information he can about his family’s old digs, located near the current Hudbay main gate, the Northern Manitoba Mining Academy and what was formerly the northern portion of Creighton Street.
“The last our family saw the actual house was in 1977. At that time, they only saw it from the street,” said Roche in an email sent to The Reminder.
“Most of their neighborhood seemed to exist up until about 1999, based on an aerial photo, though from that photo, it appears that a home where they used to live was either significantly rebuilt, since the form and footprint of the house were not the same as before, or a completely new home was built on the property. We do not know the answer to that question.”
Roche said as of 2002, all the structures and improvements in the area of his family’s former home had been removed, with the exception of a sidewalk which ran in front of their home. However, Roche said he had recently found information that some of the homes in the area may have been relocated in the late 1990s or early 2000s, instead of demolished and salvaged.
“Based on a photo from 2002, all of the structures and improvements had been removed, with the exception of the sidewalk which would have run down the front of their house. Recent information from the City of Flin Flon has indicated that most of the homes were salvaged and demolished – two were possibly relocated – in the early 2000s by HBM&S, as the properties were not under the City’s jurisdiction at the time,” said Roche.
“I have also heard from others that it was difficult to convert the homes from steam heating to electric heating, which may have resulted in them being ‘removed’.”
Roche said the address of the former home used by the family was Company Row, Cottage Two.
“Whatever information comes out of this, is better than where we are now – which is an incomplete story.”
Roche is hoping to obtain any photos, documents or anecdotes about the house and the neighbourhood. Anyone able to assist him in his search can contact Roche at 1-669-285-4048.
