Joe Roche, son of former mayor and Bank President Joseph William Roche, remembers the “Great Robbinsdale Bank Robbery.” His written account is dated July 9, 2002:
For the record, this is what I recall about the Great Robbinsdale Bank Robbery (the only bank in town), circa 1930.
It was on a Saturday evening. The night before Easter. Businesses were open late to accommodate shoppers and the bank was no different, staying open until 7:30 PM to take care of the businesses weekly deposits, etc.
Since it was Saturday night, my mother was seeing to it that my sisters, Margaret and Mary, and I were getting our Saturday night baths. We were expecting my dad, the bank manager, to be home before 8:00 PM. Instead of being home at the usual time, we received a call from him telling us that he’d be a little delayed: the bank had just been held up!
He told us the robber had been shot while trying to escape. No money was lost, nor was any one else harmed. He said he would fill us in on the details when he got home.
Here’s the report as given by my dad: the bank had closed at 7:30 PM and all the customers had left. Shortly after closing, a man, the robber, knocked on the door to get in. He had a gun and he was allowed to enter! He ordered all the bank employees except one—Lawrence Chouinard— into the bank vault. Unknown to the robber, Lawrence was in the toilet. As Lawrence exited the toilet, he saw what was going on and became an instant hero! He snuck out of the bank through the back door to the Village Hall to report the bank robbery; John Bloberger (everyone called him John B.) was on duty and immediately left the Hall to stop the robbery in progress. Just before John B. got to the bank, the robber came out with a laundry bag full of money. The robber began to walk north on the sidewalk, away from John B. John told him to stop or he’d shoot. The robber failed to stop and John B. shot him, killing him on the spot. The bullet that killed the robber was a 45 caliber slug that came to rest in his shirt pocket. I had it as a memento for years until I lost it in one of our moves.
Lawrence Chouinard was the hero—he escaped while the bandit was herding everyone into the vault and got John B. to stop the robber. Lawrence opened the vault and all who were locked in were freed! All the money was recovered. No one else was injured. The only loss was suffered by a lady who had been grocery shopping and witnessed the shooting. When John B. fired his gun, the lady dropped her bag of eggs, breaking all. That’s the truth, so help me.
Joe Roche graduated from Robbinsdale High School in 1939 and the College of St. Thomas in 1943. During World War II, he joined the US Navy to serve his country in the Pacific theater. Joe was an accomplished Navy Pilot. In the summer of 1949, Joe met, in his own words, “a vivacious and charming French Canadian girl,” Madeleine Courtemanche. On October 15, 1949, they were married in Quebec, Canada. As a Navy Pilot, Joe was stationed in locations across the US and overseas. Upon Joe’s retirement from active duty in 1964, the family returned to Minnesota where he was active in community and church functions.
Joseph William Roche was born Winneshiek County, Iowa, in 1889. A World War I veteran, avid trout fisherman, and First Robbinsdale State Bank President, Joe Roche served as Village Clerk before he was elected to the office of mayor. He held the office for three terms and was fond of telling people how he was elected to his third term the same year Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to his third term as President of the United States. Roche also served as President of the Robbinsdale Businessmen’s Association. Roche lowered property taxes and is remembered for organizing elaborate Memorial Day parades as the 4th Commander of Westphal American Legion Post 251.
The image at the top of the post features Joseph William Roche, seated with Ed Jaynish, two unidentified women, Lawerence Chouinard, and an unidentified man.