William ("Bill") Rouslin Collection

Rocky Mountain Minerals & Fossils recently purchased Bill's lifetime collection from his amazing wife Virginia. Although I did not have the opportunity to meet Bill I think we would have been kindred spirits based on this passion for minerals, fossils, meteorites and artifacts.

Bill was born in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Educated in Providence's public schools, Bill's fascination with minerals started in sixth grade and he never looked back. His collection reached over 1600 specimens and it travelled with him on all his many moves, no matter the cost. Still, he didn't want to be a geologist or a dentist like his father. Instead, he chose biochemistry, graduating from Brown University with an A.B. in biology, from the University of Connecticut with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and completing his NIH postdoctoral studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

It was there that he met Jinny (Virginia), who'd travelled down from Toronto with her roommate and a visitor from England one weekend. After ten dates, they decided to cut to the chase and forget this iffy travel between Ithaca and Toronto; and soon married in her hometown of Calgary in 1970. And so began their lives together. First in New Jersey, where Bill taught at Rutgers University and then to Cincinnati, Ohio. He was recruited by Rice University's team of heart research scientists to join them at the University of Cincinnati's College of Medicine.

Looking towards retirement, the West Coast of Canada, specifically BC, specifically North Saanich on Vancouver Island beckoned. Jinny wanted to return to her Canada and Bill was ok with this, especially considering the advantages of the climate and the chance to sail again. Clearly Bill and Virginia enjoyed their lengthy retirement years together on Vancouver Island - a good choice of locations for sure! 

Bill was 86 years old when he passed on May 22, 2025. His collection of minerals was very diverse, showing a mix of simple rock specimens he self-collected in the 1940-50s in his home state of Rhode Island through to first-class American and Mexican minerals. While most of us are forced to focus (usually due to a lack of display/storage space) Bill collected it all! His fossil collection was perhaps the high-light which included amazing Russian trilobites, Mazon Creek ferns and arctic mammoth teeth. He spent some serious money on meteorites, polished spheres and an impressive suite of American indigenous artifacts (we are currently trying to repatriate this component back to this USA). He seemed to have a preference for ultraviolet reactive minerals from Franklin, New Jersey based on the large selection he amassed. Virginia later admitted they often drove by Franklin during their time living in Rhode Island and Ohio. Due to the immense size of Bill's collection we will be slowly rolling out his inventory at shows and on this website. 

Thank you Virginia for the opportunity to share Bill's treasures with another generation of passionate collectors!