William Howard Rough (1939-2024) of Charlottesville died suddenly on May 27, 2024 at the age of 84.

Born in Washington, DC to Howard F. Rough and Helen M. Rough, two adventurous pilots, he grew up in Arlington, Virginia and Paris, France. He attended the Landon School, in Bethesda Maryland, where his love of theater began as president of his high school drama club. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a Masters in International Education at Columbia University.

In 1965 he married Joan Zabski whom he had met in Killington, Vermont. Together they had two children, Mark William Rough and Lisa Joan Rough, with whom he shared his love of literature and folk music.

He taught for a number of years at St Johnsbury Academy in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, before co-founding the Peacham School, an Alternative Highschool in Peacham Vermont. His drama teaching was a primary creative outlet as he discovered how deeply he could reach kids through “exploring what it is to be someone else.”

He moved with his family to Lexington, Virginia, in 1969, where he taught at the then, Southern Seminary Junior College. They later moved to Charlottesville, where he pursued an MFA at University of Virginia. While there, he co-authored, “STEP RIGHT UP: the Adventure of Circus in America”, with friend, circus historian, and colleague, LaVahn Hoh.

Over the years he has acted and directed primarily at Live Arts, but also at Piedmont Virginia Community College, and other local theater groups. He served as the president of the National Secondary School Theater Association, which later became the American Alliance for Theater and Education.

Following in the spirit of his parents, he and Joan traveled extensively, including multiple trips to Ireland where he fell in love with Irish traditional music. He played tin whistle, ukulele, and sang at many local music sessions.

He is survived by his wife, Joan, his son Mark and daughter-in-law, Jane McCarty of Ivy, Virginia; and Lisa Rough Broglin and her wife, Deena Broglin of Black Mountain, North Carolina; his grandchildren Zoe Rough-Broglin, Noah Rough-Broglin, Dustin McCarty, Trisha McCarty, and a great granddaughter, Ava Patterson.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Live Arts online: https://livearts.org/make-your-impact/ or the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/, a haven for elephants and rhinos in Nairobi, Kenya, an organization he was strongly passionate about and supported.

For more on services and to share your condolences, visit Hill and Wood Funeral Service.