Williette A. Rouse

Williette Austine Billups Rouse was born on February 27, 1941, in Birmingham, AL, to the late Rev. Levi Austin Billups and late Willie Mae Quinn Billups. Williette graduated as valedictorian from Carver High School, Dothan, AL, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Music Education minoring in English at Knoxville College, Knoxville, TN. In high school, at the urging of her father, Williette competed and won many oratory competitions. Her life was defined by Faith, Family and Friends, which she shared abundantly in her nearly 84 years with us.
Williette followed in her mother's footsteps and became an educator. She also went on to work at the State Department of Education in Montgomery, AL and the Registrar's Office of Bishop State Community College, Mobile, AL. Years after graduation, she later became a member of the prestigious sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc.
Williette was affectionately called "Nana" by her immediate family and her love knew no bounds. She spoiled everyone. She knew everyone's likes, dislikes, as well as their special requests, and her kitchen reflected that she remembered them all. Favorite soda, favorite hot sauce, favorite coffee creamer, favorite whatever--when you came for a visit, if she knew about it, it was at your fingertips. She also had an extraordinary memory of dates, times and events. If Nana said it happened on May 12, 1972, you could bet it did. How she could remember such details baffled us all. She was often just that precise.
Born into a prominent minister's family, Williette and her siblings were constantly in church services, conferences, and subsequently were all musically inclined. The girls played piano and organ for their father's churches, while the boys were eloquent singers. Just as their father, they too became singing preachers.
With her deep faith and talent, she was perfect for the dashing, young insurance salesman, Ernest Rouse. While in Dothan, she caught his eye and he never looked back. Being deeply involved in church activities throughout her youth, she told everyone she'd never marry a minister because she didn't want to be a preacher's wife. God absolutely has a sense of humor because although she didn't marry a minister, Ernest became an acclaimed minister in his own right. After picking herself up off the floor, she embraced the role and wore the title with honor, even playing piano for his churches when there was no musician on staff. It was all a setup from early childhood. God played her like a fiddle.
Her husband was an extraordinary visionary and due to her exceptional clerical and organizational skills, she was the perfect help meet for him. She became the CEO of that vision and assisting in executing his plans was her forte. The two of them in tandem always made everything run flawlessly like a well-oiled machine. Excellence was their lived mantra.
Williette's nurturing spirit extended to her mother as her primary caregiver while still supporting her husband's pastoral and presiding elder duties. Her love reached beyond family as she warmly welcomed others into their home. Her continued work with the missionaries of the Southwest Alabama Conference exemplified her ongoing care for others.
Perhaps the role she cherished most was that of a doting grandmother and great grandmother. She loved spoiling those babies. Nana loved staying connected to their milestones and once she learned how to download photos to her computer, she created endless slideshows of her family. Somehow even the Obama family made that slideshow and none of us knew we were related. She was out of control. You had to love it.
Nana peacefully entered into eternal rest with our Savior on February 15, 2025, surrounded by her family at her bedside. She will be deeply missed, but her spirit will live on in the hearts of all who loved her. She was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Ernest A Rouse, Sr, and her brothers Levi,Jr, Samuel, and Theodore. She is survived by her children, Cybele Danae Jordan and Ernest A Rouse, Jr, (Tracy), four grandchildren, Jasmine Jordan and Ramoane Jordan, Jr, (Christina), Ernest Isaiah Rouse and Olivia Rouse, two great grandchildren, Logan Jordan and Levi Jordan, one sister, Iris Billups, who she spoke to daily, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws, and those special friends who were constant staples in her life in her latter years and especially this last year after the passing of her husband (Lucky and Barbara Williams, Demetrius Myatt, James Bradley, and Leon Turner).
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