Smelter accident victim's funeral set for April 10

His 28-year-old co-worker, who received a concussion and facial lacerations in the same incident, has not been named.

According to his obituary, Rochette is survived by his children, Isabella and Skyler Rochette, his parents, Eddy and Sue Rochette, brother Daniel Rochette (Nadine Gosselin) and sister Angele Kirwan (Ryan Kirwan) and his best friend, Jessica Daoust.

A visitation will take place at the Cooperative Funeral Home's Lasalle Boulevard location April 9 from 2-5 and 7-9:30 p.m, and the funeral will take place April 10 at 11 a.m. at Paroisse St-Joseph in Chelmsford.

The family is asking for donations to the SickKids Foundation in Rochette's memory.

Kirwan said he's known Rochette, whose sister Angele is married to his son Ryan, for about a decade.

Rochette was devoted to his son and daughter, he said. “His kids meant everything to him,” Kirwan said.

Rochette, who had worked for Vale for two years, but had been working as a millwright for many years, was passionate about his job, Kirwan said.

“When you talk to his co-workers ... he was one of the best people in the millwright trade,” he said. “He didn't put half an effort into anything he did.”

In his spare time, Rochette loved hunting, fishing and riding his quad, Kirwan said. “He lived for the outdoors,” he said.

His obituary said he loved to share his passion for the outdoors with his loved ones.

For now, the family is focused on grieving Rochette's death, but they're left with a lot of questions about how the accident happened, he said.

He said it's going to be a long road for the family, as they'll have to go through the investigation and inquest into his death.

Kirwan said he knows very well how they feel, as his wife's brother was killed in a mining accident in Levack in 1972.