Like many of the pioneers of Azilda, Zotique Régimbal was originally from Quebec.  He was born in 1858 in Saint-André-Avelin.  At a very young age, he started to work on his parents' farm.  Later, he worked for McLaren Lumber of Ottawa, where he held the dangerous occupation of river driver.  In 1879, he married Célina Lavelle.

After seven years of working as a river driver and sustaining a few accidents, he moved to the David Moore firm, also of Ottawa. In 1881, the firm appointed him foreman of a team that squared timbers for the Canadian Pacific Railway during construction of the railroad linking Mattawa and Dog Lake.  This stretch of railroad track passed through North Bay, Wahnapitae and Sudbury.

When the government sent troops to Manitoba to combat the Riel Rebellion, the soldiers traveled by train to Dog Lake (the railroad did not yet meet the line coming from the west).  It was Zotique Régimbal who guided them through the 50 miles of forest that still separated the two lines.

In the spring of 1887, Régimbal settled on a farm in the Township of Rayside with his family.  He lived in a house built out of squared white pine logs.  This house also served as the post office as Mr. Régimbal was the first postmaster of Fraser Siding.  It was not until later that the name Azilda came into use.

Zotique Régimbal was actively involved in municipal affairs. In 1890, he presided over the general meeting of inhabitants of the Township of Rayside, where the first municipal council was elected.  In February 1891, the new council appointed Régimbal Clerk-Treasurer of the Township.  When the inhabitants of Rayside elected their first school board in 1897, Zotique Régimbal was appointed secretary.

In 1904, Zotique Régimbal and his family left Azilda for Sudbury.  From then on, Mr. Régimbal worked for Laberge Lumber, a firm founded by a Rayside businessman.

Material compiled from L'oeuvre pionnière dans les Cantons de Rayside (1880-1920) and Azilda comme je l'ai connu.