Roslyn Rouse

The daughter of the late Roscoe and Mae Ruth Marchant Rouse, she was born August 6, 1933 in Waycross, Georgia where she was a teacher and Principal of Gilcrest Elementary School and coordinator of the Chapter 1 program for the Waycross School System. Roslyn moved to the Atlanta area in 1977 where she was a Title I Consultant for the Georgia Department of Education. She provided guidance for school systems throughout the state and was loved for her unique ability to combine professionalism with humor to get the job done.

There was never an idle moment when she was around and most people in a group would find themselves drawn to her because of her quick wit, slapstick humor, comedic faces, piercing eye contact and glorious, contagious, laughter. Roslyn relished each new project and engaged enthusiastically. She could cook a full course meal and serve it on an eloquent formal table or salvage drift wood from the lake and make furniture for her home at Lake Burton. An art major at Valdosta state, Roslyn worked her way through school and was the founder of the first Sorority on Campus. She was an avid crafter who could find a creative use for any and everything that crossed her path. She could never pass a blackberry patch without jumping out to pick enough for a little jelly.

A passionate and talented gardener, Roslyn’s specialty was propagating house plants to share with friends. Her greenhouse was a source of great pleasure to her throughout her life. In retirement, Roslyn spent 8 months each year in Long Creek, SC on her “farm” where she was compelled to plant a full vegetable garden each spring and spent the summer canning and preserving her harvest to share with friends and neighbors. She loved the informal atmosphere of the mountains and her lake and was nourished by their beauty.

Like her daddy, Roslyn loved to give people and things nick names such as: Twatty Sue, Bleauty, Daniel Do Do, Pearly Mae, cruddy boat, biotch boat, the barn, the farm…. She loved antiquities and salvaged the neighbor’s outhouse to provide storage for all the fishing gear. She collected interesting artifacts of nature and relished making them into fine art around the home. Her okra wreath, grapevine baskets, pine knot birds sitting in discarded bird’s nests, her gourd creations and treasured hornet’s nests Roslyn-ize the décor of her homes. She was indeed one of a kind who etched her memory into each friend’s heart as no other could. This physical world will mourn as her light dims but heaven is rejoicing with the laughter as her presence announces that the party can begin….

Roslyn was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, Roscoe Patrick Rouse, and two sisters, Louise Rouse Wade Markey and Mary Ruth Rouse.

Survivors include her loving companion of 33 years, Patricia O’Hara Higgins of Liburn, GA, two nephews: Dr. Jim Rouse Wade and wife Kathy of Toccoa, Georgia, Tol Shannon Wade and wife Dana of Strongsville, Ohio and four great nieces and nephews: Alayna Wade of Edwards, CO and Daniel Wade and wife Carole Ann of Gilbert, AZ, Justin Wade, wife Jennifer and children: Nathan, Emma and Kyle of Medina, Ohio and Erin Wade of Fairview Park, Ohio.

A Graveside Service for family will be held at 4:00 pm on Sunday, November 4, 2018 at the Oakland Cemetery in Waycross, Georgia.

In lieu of flowers, the family ask for memorials o be made in her memory to the Toccoa Symphony, P.O. Box 893, Toccoa, GA 30577, or the Long Creek Community Club, P.O. Box 130, Long Creek, SC 29658, or the Trinity Organ Fund, Trinity Methodist Church, 1005 Church Street, Waycross, GA 31501.