'Dolly' Rousseau was plumber, angler, most of all mother

The Huntsville Times
By VICTORIA CUMBOW

Daughter says she took care of everyone

Dolores Rousseau, known by most as Dolly, was anything but a typical mother. She was a plumber and an angler, but most importantly, she was a mother.

"She was everybody's mama and everyone's friend," said her daughter, Carol Johnson. "She was wonderful."

Dolly passed away June 7. She would have been 79 today.

Dolly worked as a plumber beside her husband, Louie, until he died 21 years ago. The business they started together more than 50 years ago, a business not known for female plumbers, was her life.

Johnson said as long as she could remember, her mother was a plumber.

"She was always out with my daddy fixing water heaters or faucets," she said. "And when she wasn't out working, she was answering what we called the plumbing phone."

Carol's husband and son now run Rousseau Plumbing, and Carol said her mother taught them everything they know.

Rousseau's other daughter, Barbara, said her mother was anything but typical.

"She didn't even wear make up," she said.

Barbara said she remembers as a child how she and her sister didn't buy her mother normal presents.

"She was an avid fisherman," Barbara said. "So instead of giving her girly things like jewelry, we shopped for rods and reels."

Barbara said she remembers being out with her sister when they were younger and her mother driving the red plumbing truck with Rousseau Plumbing plastered across it and wanting to hide. Those things were embarrassing as a child, but now they're fond memories, she said.

Both girls recalled how their mother never met a stranger, and everyone was her friend. Her family came first, and that didn't change in the end, they said.

"She didn't want to die because she was worried about Carol," Barbara said, explaining Carol's health concerns. "Family came first with her, and it took me a long time to learn that from her."

Dolly had two daughters, three grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She supported every sport any of them played by going to as many games as possible and was a sports fan.

Carol said she loved the Braves and never missed an Alabama football game.

Barbara said she was the kind of mother you wanted to come home to, and many times, she and her friends did.

Barbara said her mother had a difficult life. Her parents were gone when she was about 13, and she basically raised her four brothers and sisters, she said.

"She was put on this Earth to take care of people," Carol said. "She just loved people."

Barbara said her mother's life was very hard, and she had to struggle for everything, but no matter what was required, her mother would do it.

"She was never too good to do anything," she said. "She did whatever it took for daddy and for us."

Dolly loved the mountains and the outdoors. She fished when she was able to go to Destin, Fla., with friends and took a trip to the Smoky Mountains with her daughters each year. Her last trip was with Barbara in November.

"It was her favorite place," she said.

Carol said her mother had hip replacement surgery in January and never fully recovered.

Even when she wasn't able to speak near the end of her life, she was still finding a way to worry about her family, Barbara said.

"She took care of everyone," she said. "She wasn't your normal mama, but she was my best friend, my rock and our foundation."