It was at the end of the “Roaring” Twenties that the young entrepreneur who was Arthur Rousseau already decided to take the plunge and go into business. In 1927 he bought the Lussier funeral home in Trois-Rivières, which also housed the region’s provincial mortuary at the time. Arthur then moved the new business to a more spacious building at 462 rue des Forges in order to offer the increasingly important clientele services that met their expectations.
Anxious to keep all the related services in his fold in order to control their quality, he entrusted his wife, Anaïs Rousseau, a woman whose dynamism would quickly make legend, the management of the flower shop adjoining the salon, the Florist The violet. Once the company emerged from the Great Depression of 1929 and now firmly anchored in the heart of the regional metropolis, Arthur is active with the opening of several branches across the Mauricie region.
Over the years, Arthur surrounded himself with reliable and hardworking people such as Antonio Bellefeuille, his son André and his wife Shirley Kendall and Yvette Trottier, his charming and devoted secretary at the time, who in December 1971 became his second wife. Many others are added to this core and allow the company to stand out through its professionalism and the range of services it offers to its clients: insurance and funeral services, flower shop, ambulance transport, transport with limousines. at Trois-Rivières airport, weddings and baptisms, without forgetting the collaboration of the stylish and costumed staff (ceremonial, order service, driver) during civic and religious gatherings and celebrations (Tercentenary of the city of Trois-Rivières, Eucharistic Congress, etc.). In fact, Arthur became a marketing ace in the field of services, which gave him excellent visibility in a community now severely affected by the great upheavals of World War II. We are looking for a solid and reassuring figure, this is what the Trifluviens find in Arthur Rousseau who becomes mayor of the city from 1941 to 1949.
In 1957, tireless, he decided to build his own building and centralize the company’s operations there at the corner of rue Royale and rue des Volontaires. In 1961, the flower shop was bought by the Gauthier family, well known in the field of floriculture. It was in 1964 that Gilles, Arthur’s son decided to join the family business, then in 1971, the year of Anaïs Allard-Rousseau’s death on February 15, it was his sister Irene’s turn. to join the team. In 1976, the Rousseau house gave its operating rights as well as the equipment of its ambulance service to a private company in the region which would become the Compagnie d’ambulance 12-12 de la Mauricie.
It was in 1986 that Gilles became the owner of the company and the following year, his daughter Julie began working for the company as a receptionist. The three generations of Rousseau will work hand in hand before the death of the founder on October 30, 1994, at the age of 93. So a pillar of the Trois-Rivières business community died out, but the next generation was well prepared!
In 2004, at the instigation of Julie, the Center acquired new spaces on Boulevard Jean-XXIII which will be fully equipped. Then, on September 22, 2006, Gilles passed away following a long battle against prostate cancer.
Today, the Rousseau funeral center, constantly striving for excellence, adequately meets all requirements. Rousseau is three generations who have succeeded each other with the same professionalism and the same determination with a single objective: to give attention to people in mourning when they need it most.
In 2012, a year of great change. The Rousseau funeral center changes address by building a new building adapted to its needs and offering all the services under one roof.
The name Rousseau has become synonymous with confidence, expertise and loyalty for the people of the region.
