In Memoriam of Bob Trouteaud `74
Robert “Bob” Trouteaud died unexpectedly on August 29, 2024 at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta after an heroic struggle with complications following a sports-related arm injury. The youngest son of Roy Cyril Trouteaud and Ruth Bowser, Bob grew up in Franklin, Michigan where he enjoyed an idyllic childhood riding bikes, building forts, roaming the woods, playing Little League baseball and pick-up hockey games, camping, swimming, boating on Lake Michigan, working on scouting badges, and playing board games with his lifelong friend and “brother by another mother”, David Hinman. He is survived by his wife, Rindy, their son and daughter-in-law, Alex and Cat Trouteaud, their daughter and son-in-law, Chloe and Tim Cook, their beloved grandchildren, Corwin, Keaton, Ellie, Ingrid, and Alistair, his sister and brother-in-law, Yvonne and Chuck Morse, and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins.
“I build,” Bob told a minister friend as he patiently disassembled an IKEA bookshelf in his wife’s church office. “If a structure lasts three minutes or thirty years, it doesn’t matter to me because I’m called to a ministry of building.” Bob lived his calling in creative ways. Whether building a rock garden with his father, restoring an historic home with his newlywed wife, sanding pinewood derby cars with his grandchildren, constructing stage sets with his daughter for dance recitals, remodeling a commercial site for a karate studio with his son, collaborating with his daughter-in-law to build a “Disney-esque” play structure for his first grandchild, super-gluing beads of a broken necklace for a granddaughter, assembling bicycles on Christmas Eve, or getting down on his hands and knees to construct Lego space stations with his grandchildren, Bob found vast satisfaction in using his builder’s skills for his family.
It was building for others, however, that lit his imagination. Laying roof tiles on cinder block homes in rural Mexico, sheetrocking walls in Nicaraguan community centers, replacing worn windows in Honduran maternal health clinics, painting classrooms in Jamaican elementary schools, repairing homes devastated by hurricanes in Puerto Rico, tarring leaky roofs of single-wide trailers in West Virginia, coordinating crews renovating a church manse, creating a digital presence for a West Virginia retreat home, and crafting online worship services for a Presbyterian church during the covid pandemic fulfilled Bob’s desire for a life that, in his words, “mattered”. How much so is evident in his commitment made days prior to his death, for him and Rindy to travel across the country next summer in their RV to work in South Dakota with the families of Lakota schoolchildren renovating classrooms of the St. Joseph’s Indian School.
The details of any building venture always intrigued Bob, a quintessential organizer who preferred things in triplicate. After a successful career marketing industrial robots, Bob spent decades building and growing a sales and management consulting firm, Trouteaud Consulting Group. Working with a close-knit group of trainers and consultants, Bob created a far-flung group of colleagues who traveled around the world providing customized sales and leadership training for executives in a variety of industries. These co-workers shared his passion for helping others build and rebuild their careers and forge and repair their business relationships. Their rich collaborations laid the groundwork for lasting friendships that delighted Bob long into his retirement.
What motivated Bob most deeply, however, were opportunities to build community with those who shared his interests. Church, sports, music and Scouting were avenues for creating relationships that sustained Bob through changes that occurred as a result of his wife’s long pastoral career serving churches in transition. In each new church setting, Bob jumped into opportunities to get to know his fellow congregants by teaching adult Sunday School classes, serving on a slew of committees, and volunteering hours building Habitat for Humanity homes, delivering groceries to homebound elderly members, and serving people without homes who sought aid from his wife and her colleagues. A compassionate listener who made room for the stories of others, he had a knack for gracing strangers with the gift of being truly heard.
Ever the enthusiastic athlete, Bob loved being part of a team either as a player or fan. He was a proud member of what he claimed was a worldwide Atlanta Braves fan club comprised of people who could not wait for opening day. Much to his wife’s chagrin, he recorded and watched every single game! As a collegiate lacrosse player familiar with the enthusiasm of fans, he appreciated the noise and antics of the super-charged Georgia Swarm fans and took every opportunity to don his team swag to show his support. But it was on the court, mat, slope, and field that Bob distinguished himself as an athlete committed to building a community shaped by dedicated teamwork. A tenacious volleyball player in college, a competitve cross country skier as a young adult, a proficient golfer in midlife, and a karate black belt in later life opened doors to circles of friends of all ages who shared his passion for competition. Bob was always gung-ho to play softball, and most of his adult years he played on church softball teams. His friend and fellow teammate, Bob Tobey, tells tales of their playing years. “I think of all the great times we had together. Bob and I met playing softball on the Roswell Presbyterian Church team 39 years ago. At some point we needed someone to pitch, and Bob stepped up. After that one game, I recruited him to pitch for all my slow pitch teams. He was my “Greg Maddox” of slow pitch softball. We played 6 or 7 years in that Sunday afternoon league and only lost 4 or 5 games. Bob was asked to play on a 45+ tournament team before I was. Was I jealous…NO…at that level, shortstops were a dime a dozen…but a “Greg Maddox” slow pitch pitcher who could pitch, hit, and field were very rare.” However, it was the wide circle of retired friends and acquaintances, fellow pickleballers who joined him mornings on the court to share the thrill of competition now colored by the challenges of graceful aging, who pushed Bob to do and be more than he thought possible. Coming home after tournaments, win or lose, he would walk through the door and announce to his wife with joy and a hint of swagger, “I’m a contender!”
In addition to his athletic exploits, Bob, a disciplined, consummate musician, cherished the camaraderie he shared with fellow musicians in his high school and college bands, symphony orchestras, and jazz ensembles. What amused him without fail was the pleasure his college friends found in teasing him about marching in formation onto the football field during halftime and playing his trombone dressed in a skirt (a kilt)! Wherever he lived, Bob joined community bands and brass ensembles that fulfilled his penchant for making beautiful music with talented friends. Each year as the holidays approached, he looked forward to Christmas and Fourth of July concerts and juggled his afterwork hours with band rehearsals and dress rehearsals – including rehearsals with an online band during the covid pandemic – to prepare for them.
As a schoolboy, Bob found a home in the world of Scouting, a home he claimed throughout his life. An Eagle Scout at 15 years old, Bob continued earning Eagle Palms and joined the ranks of the National Eagle Scout Association. As soon as his son, Alex, entered first grade, the two of them worked together on Cub Scout badges. Over time, Bob assumed more leadership responsibilities as his grandsons and granddaughter entered Scouting programs. It really excited him when the doors of the former Boy Scouts of America opened wide to allow the participation of girls. He served for years as Cubmaster of Pack 553in Gwinnett County, and under his leadership, membership ballooned. Although Bob received much recognition for his work with scouts, he was particularly honored to receive the Celtic Cross Award for “his faithful service to youth in Christian ministry in testimony thereof by the National Association of Presbyterian Scouters.”
As soon as temperatures dropped, Bob began to anticipate a tradition: a gathering of college friends who traveled to the Berkshires to sit around a campfire on the banks of Lake Buel and watch the autumn leaves change color. Bob loved pulling out the canoes and kayaks and paddling with friends to the opposite shore for a close-up view of an aerie of eagles hiding in the branches of towering pine trees. He looked forward to hanging out in the kitchen with his former fraternity brothers who, in their retirements, perfected the art of gourmet cooking. Hiking the mountain trails, chopping firewood, perusing the local shops of Great Barrington, listening to throwback rock and roll favorites, sneaking m&m’s and homemade chocolate chip cookies after midnight, playing board and card games into the wee hours of the night, piecing together impossibly difficult puzzles, swapping tales of adult children and grandchildren and sharing memories of the past and hopes for the future filled Bob’s heart with so much gratitude for the breadth and depth of these precious, life-giving friendships that have weathered the tests of time. Traveling home after these long weekends, Bob would declare that he was a better person for having such friends in his life.
If you asked Bob questions about his proudest moments, he would tell stories of his children, Alex and Chloe. He was continually surprised by the twists and turns of their lives, their accomplishments, and their devotion to using their gifts and talents – for which he claimed genetic responsibility – to repair a fractured world. He was inspired by their creative efforts to bring peace and justice, light and hope, beauty and love to the small corners of their communities. Dazzled by their considerable achievements, he loved them lightly, fiercely, as only a father can.
The dearest, most devoted and faithful love Bob shared in his life was with and for his wife, Rindy. They met as wet-behind-the-ears freshmen the first day of fall semester at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. Together they built a family and a home where all were welcome. In their one-day-short-of-49 years of marriage, not a day passed without the two of them laughing at some odd joke or sight gag, sharing a quirky but useless fact or nugget of information, pontificating on world events, and reminding each other that “all is well and all manner of things shall be well”. It was Rindy’s deepest and most privileged blessing to be with Bob at his bedside, holding his hand as he took a breath of the world so huge it carried him into eternity.
A memorial service of witness to the resurrection and celebration of Bob’s life will be held on Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. at Shallowford Presbyterian Church, 2375 Shallowford Road, Atlanta, Georgia. Reverend Mark Harper and Reverend Bradley Kibler Bond will officiate. The family will receive friends and acquaintences at a reception following the service. Those wishing to honor Bob’s life, loves, and commitments are encouraged to contribute to the continuing education of the ICU medical staff of Grady Memorial Hospital who provided Bob with extraordinary end-of-life care: Grady Health Foundation, 191 Peachtree Street, N.E., Suite 820, Atlanta, GA 30303 and the St. Joseph’s Indian School which offers indigenous children the opportunity to build their futures: St. Joseph’s Indian School, 1301 North Main Street, Chamberlain, SD 57325.
Posted in on October 7, 2024.
