Arthur Wilson Rousseau, Major, U. S. Army (Retired), age 72, died at home Saturday evening, April 22, 2023, in Decatur, Alabama.
Art, as he was fondly known, was born February 13, 1951, in Tacoma, Washington, to William Joseph Rousseau, Jr., and Anne Rogers Rousseau. He graduated from Izmir High School, Izmir, Turkey, and was selected for a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship to Providence College, where he also played football for the Providence Friars.
Following graduation in 1973, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, beginning his career as a United States Army officer and retiring in 1993. He later helped establish a high school JROTC program in rural North Carolina, teaching for several years before his final retirement. Art was clearly gratified by the opportunity to guide these young students into a world which had until then been beyond their reach.
Art is survived by his wife, Karen Bailey Rousseau of Decatur, Alabama; son, Eric W. Rousseau, of Baltimore, Maryland; sister, Nanette Rousseau (Nicholas Robertshaw) of Pawling, New York; brother, William J. Rousseau III of Laguna Beach, California; niece Alexandra Robertshaw Feliciano of Boynton Beach, Florida; nephew, Ben Robertshaw of New York, New York; and nephew, Joseph Rousseau of Aliso Viejo, California.
A private ceremony with full military honors, followed by interment at Barrancas National Cemetery, Pensacola, Florida, will be held at a later date.
