BRUNSWICK, Maine — Jacques and Carolyn Larochelle of Bangor are familiar with the proud tradition that each year draws hundreds to the Bowdoin College quad on a Saturday morning late in May.
Friends and family gathered in groups outside the Museum of Art and dozens of faculty in caps, gowns and multicolored sashes lined the quad as the bell in Bowdoin College Chapel began to chime and the class of 2015 wound its way through the campus.
Along with 472 fellow graduates from 36 states, the District of Columbia and 18 other countries and territories, this year the Larochelles watched the sixth of their six sons graduate from Bowdoin College. Like many of his brothers before him, Jacques Larochelle, 22, will head to medical school in the fall. He plans to practice emergency medicine, just like father, an ER physician at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for the past 27 years.
The Larochelles grew up listening to his parents talk about the ER, Jacques said, and each had the opportunity to shadow their father in his practice.
“We got to see the impact he had on people’s lives — medical issues, but also social issues,” said Nicholas Larochelle, 29, who with his twin, Michael Larochelle, graduated from Bowdoin in 2008. Nicholas will finish his residency in emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh next month, and then move to Concord, New Hampshire to practice. Michael will finish his residency in emergency medicine at Palmetto Health in South Carolina next month, then move to Denver to practice.
Eldest son Matthieu, 30, was the first son to attend Bowdoin. Bowdoin was a natural choice, he said, because the family spent time each summer at Popham Beach in Phippsburg and was familiar with the midcoast area.
Matt, who graduated from Bowdoin in 2007, is a physician who now works for a pharmaceutical consulting firm in Boston.
As each brother visited the one before him, the family tradition “just sort of happened,” Matt said.
Christian Larochelle 25, graduated from Bowdoin in 2012 and now works in asset management in Boston.
Ryan Larochelle, 24 — who many will remember kicked the winning goal in 2006 to capture Bangor High School’s first state Class A soccer championship for Bangor High School — graduated from Bowdoin in 2013 and now works in biotechnology in New York City.
The senior Jacques Larochelle, 60, said Saturday that the emergency department serves as the “safety valve” in the community. “We see medical issues, but also social issues, psychiatric issues, family issues … a lot of it ends up in the ER,” he said.
Proud of all of his sons, Jacques Larochelle said he still enjoys working at EMMC and plans to stay. He hopes he and his wife, Carolyn, may return one May morning years from now to watch a member of the next generation march, in cap and gown, around the college quad to receive their diploma from Bowdoin College.