Julien Loranger

Born in Saint-Maurice, Quebec, Loranger left his region at age 17 and settled in Earlton, in Northern Ontario. As a pioneer, farmer, buyer and vendor, he endeavoured to clear the land in the Timiskaming area and turn it into a thriving farming region. He was a founding member of the Earlton agricultural co-operative, which he served as president for 10 years, and he encouraged farmers to stay at the forefront of technology.

A visionary, Loranger was the first farmer to get into purebred Holstein breeding, and the first to build a free stall barn in 1945. He was the father of 12 children and a champion of the French language, and he served on the separate school board for 11 years. In 1942, he founded the Caisse populaire d’Earlton. As he became the director of the Caisse, he quickly realized that keeping the young Francophones in the area was highly important, and he helped many young couples to start their own farm business.