Gerard Rousshiles
Vale: Gerard Rousshiles
On February 22, 2017, over 300 people entered the Pinnaroo Valley Chapel in Padbury to mourn the passing and celebrate the life of Gerard Roussilhes, to the familiar voice of the Parisian chanteuse, Edith Piaf, singing, “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien”
Gerard Roussilhes was born in Morocco, in 1941, to French parents, Irene and Gisele. He was brought up on a farm and spent most of his first 24 years there and learnt to speak Arabic, with a native Moroccan dialect. In 1963 he graduated from the University of Le Havre, in commerce, finance and economics. He also married his first wife Marie that year and Emmanuelle and Beatrice were born in 1964 and 1966. That year he also joined the French diplomatic service, and was posted to Nairobi, Kenya as the French Commercial Attaché in East Africa. In 1971, he was appointed to the French Embassy in Tehran, Iran. During his seven years in Teheran, he met and married his second wife Delnaz, in 1974. His son Cyrus was born in 1975 and a second son, Raphael, in 1977. A few months before the Iranian revolution, in 1978, Gerard and his family moved to the world’s most isolated city, Perth, where he opened the French Trade Commission on St George’s Terrace. Within 48 hours of arriving in Perth, Gerard was playing bridge at WABC in Dalkeith. In 1985, the family moved again, to Karachi, Pakistan where Gerard was appointed as commercial counsellor to the French Embassy; they remained there for four years. In 1989, the family moved again to Cameroon and Chad, where once again Gerard was appointed to the French Embassy.
In 1993, after an illustrious 27-year career in the French diplomatic service, Gerard retired, and the family moved to take up permanent residence in Western Australia. He was not idle for long as he and Delnaz became owners of the Mullaloo News and Lotteries agency, a career which would continue to the end of his life. Gerard’s wider circle of friends in WA were derived from the local communities of Mullaloo and Ocean Reef, customers of the family newsagency, and his many friends through golf and bridge clubs, and as a result of his numerous cultural presentations to Rotary, Probus and Lions clubs usually on serious topics such as “Islam” and ‘Women and Islam”, or for more lighthearted presentations, ‘The Comparison of Australian and French wines”. Gerard had a wonderful sense of humour and at these latter presentations he frequently told the story of Madame Lilly Bollinger, the Grande Dame of Champagne, who, when asked how often would she drink her favourite wine, replied: ” I drink it when I am happy and when I am sad. I drink it when I am alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. At dinner, I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am, otherwise I would never touch it…Unless I am thirsty”.
Gerard features several times on honour boards at WABC. He won the WABC Pairs in 1979 and 1980 and the State Open Teams in 1978, with Len Summers, Nigel Rosendorff, John Ashworth and Phil Firstenberg. In 1980, he won the State Mens Pairs, partnering Nigel Rosendorff. Nigel recalls unlimited quantities of MUMM Champagne, tax free, courtesy of the office of the French Trade Commission. He also remembers selling Gerard a cocker spaniel puppy; he thought he called it “champagne”, but he missed the correct name because of Gerard’s accent. It was “Chopin”. Gerard returned the puppy when it ate his shoes…
For the first 20 years of his retirement in Perth, Gerard did not play a lot of bridge. However, in the last 3 to 4 years, he began to play regularly again at Undercroft and WABC. His regular partners at WABC included John McMullan, Phil Bapty and myself. His conduct at the bridge table, both as partner and opponent, was always beyond reproach. He had the highest possible ethical standards both at the bridge table and in his personal and professional life. He played an older ACOL style with Benjamin twos and strong jump shifts, but in all aspects of bidding, declarer, and defensive play, he was always very disciplined and accurate. He was intelligent, charming, witty, and wonderful company. He had an extraordinarily wide knowledge of contemporary European, Middle Eastern, African and Australian culture and history. Gerard Roussilhes will be sadly missed by the many people in Western Australia who have had the privilege of knowing him. The membership of the WABC extends their most sincere condolences to his wife, Delnaz, their 4 children and their partners, and their granddaughter.
John Rigg
Published in April 2017 Edition of Trumps Plus
