Leo Rousseau, Founder of Rousseau’s RV Center, Passes – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
Leopold (Leo) Rousseau, 92, of Lakeville, Mass., passed away peacefully on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, at Life Care Center of West Bridgewater surrounded by family, according to his obituary. He was the beloved husband of the late Claire (Levesque) Rousseau to whom he spent 65 years of marriage. Leo and Claire met on Memorial Day weekend in 1955 at Lincoln Park Ballroom and married on August 18, 1956.
Born in Fall River, on Friday, February 19, 1932, the eldest of six and the son of the late Leo and Dorina (Talbot) Rousseau. Leo graduated from Prevost High School in 1950. He was a resident of Lakeville Massachusetts where he established Rousseau’s RV Center in 1976 at his home and expanded to the current dealership in 1982 as he followed his passion for camping. Before that, he was a supervisor with the New England Telephone Company for 30 years (Verizon) where he retired in 1985.
The video above was posted by the New England RV Dealers Association (NERVDA), in 2018. NERVDA had this to say about the video when it was posted:
Meet Leo Rousseau, owner of Rousseau’s RV in Lakeville, MA and a member of the New England RV Dealer’s Association. Leo has been at their current location since 1982. Here he tells us about their discount program, their 40,000 item parts store and we meet one of their customers, Sgt. Major O’Donnell, and learn about the added discounts provided to all Active Military, Vets, Police and Fire. Visit Rousseau’s RV at www.rousseausrv.com
According to information on the Rousseau’s RV Center website:
When Leo Rousseau first jumped into the RV sales industry in 1976, it was a matter of landing in the right place at the right time. His family wanted to buy their first recreational vehicle, and a rep at a trade show convinced him to start his own RV rental enterprise. Leo based his operation at home while still working full-time for the local phone company.
Launching the rental service with just one motorhome and one truck camper, he gradually purchased additional units at a time when RV sales were sluggish. As the decades passed, Leo expanded his homegrown business. In 1982, he moved it out of his house and constructed a 40 by 60 foot steel building at the dealership’s current location, 150 Bedford Street. Astonishingly, he didn’t retire from his phone company job until 1985. “We’d open every evening and all day Saturday and Sunday. We were on a tight budget, so we did a lot of the work ourselves,” he says, adding, “I couldn’t have done it without the help of my wife and youngest son, David.”
In the early 1990’s, Leo embarked on a major shop expansion, adding four service bays. Today, Rousseau’s RV Center sells new and pre-owned RV’s, has a comprehensive service/ repair department; extensive RV parts, supplies, and accessories division; and the rental division now handles motorhomes, travel trailers, and tent campers.
