Marie-Louise Jeanne Rouff died on May 13, 2026, at the age of 96, after a long and full life marked by resilience, creativity, and devotion to the arts.
Born on Jan. 18, 1930, in Redange-sur-Attert, Luxembourg, Marie-Louise was the daughter of Louis and Katherine Rouff. She came of age during World War II, alongside her three sisters, Margrette, Jeanne, and Marie-Anne, and her brother, Franz.
During the German occupation of Luxembourg, her father refused to collaborate, resulting in the loss of his government post and his children being removed from school. Her parents sheltered American soldiers in their attic during the war, and kept packed suitcases by the front door, in case the Nazis came for the family in the middle of the night. She had clear memories of hearing the Battle of the Bulge, as well as the excitement of the Americans’ arrival.
In 1951 Marie-Louise married David Henderson and moved to northern India, where David managed a tea plantation. She was immediately struck by the colors, flavors, and smells of India, so different from Luxembourg. After her marriage to David proved unsuccessful, she spent time exploring India. Returning to Paris, she was accepted into the first student cohort of the Sorbonne University’s newinterpreters’ diploma program. Marie-Louise was fluent in English, French, German, Latin, Luxembourgish, and spoke passably in Italian and Spanish.
After concluding her diploma at the Sorbonne, she met Peter Pastreich, who was studying French literature during his junior year abroad. Marie-Louise eventually joined Peter in the U.S., and received her masters of arts in French literature from Middlebury College in 1962. She ultimately abandoned her Ph.D. studies to become an assistant professor at Bradford College in Massachusetts. In 1963, she married Peter and moved with him to Nashville, Tenn., where she taught French at Vanderbilt University.
In 1964, she gave birth to her son Emanuel. After a brief stint in Kansas City, where Marie-Louise taught French at the University of Missouri, she and Peter settled in St. Louis, Mo., where her son Michael was born in 1966.
Inspired by her father’s pencil drawings, Marie-Louise pursued formal training in painting at Washington University’s School of Fine Arts, and received a BFA in 1974. In the following years, her painting shifted from a focus on semirepresentational still life to highly rendered watercolor. Following her divorce from Peter, Marie-Louise worked as a Realtor, and distinguished herself as an artist and community advocate. She played a key role in fostering an artists’ colony in Benton Park, St. Louis, and from 1981, she served as director of community programs for the St. Louis Arts and Humanity Council, where she helped establish neighborhood arts councils and led inclusive community arts initiatives.
In 1992, Marie-Louise married Robert Paul Levine, and together they moved to Carmel Valley, Calif. There she continued to produce landscape and still life paintings, and branched out to large canvas abstract painting, adding the monotype print process to her repertoire.
In 2009, Marie-Louise and Paul moved to Martha’s Vineyard, and quickly joined a vibrant community of artists, writers, teachers, and community activists. She regularly meditated at Bodhi Path, and was an important member of the artistic scene on the Island. Marie-Louise continued developing her abstract and landscape painting. She was profiled as a painter and gardener in The Martha’s Vineyard Times, the Vineyard Gazette, and Martha’s Vineyard Arts & Ideas.
Throughout her career, Marie-Louise was represented by art galleries in Luxembourg, Carmel and Carmel Valley, San Francisco, and Tokyo, among other cities. Her work is to be found in the permanent collections of Luxembourg’s Mudam Museum of Modern Art and the St. Louis Art Museum.
Marie-Louise was exceptionally active into her 90s while continuing to live at her home. While she struggled at times losing her mobility and her memory, she approached the challenges with humility and humor, often saying it was her mission to become friends with death. She commented often that death is the one certainty we all face, and felt we should work to destigmatize and deindustrialize the death and dying process. She was laid to rest in a green burial at Vineyard Haven Cemetery.
She is survived by her brother, Franz (Annette); sons Emanuel (spouse Yo) and Michael (Stephanie), stepsons Greg (Jennifer) and Jason (Brigitte), and stepdaughter Mathea; as well as her grandchildren, Benjamin, Rachel, Meghan, Karina, Erik, Oliver, Lola, Isabella, Delilah, and Zora.
Her joy was irresistible, her spirit and wisdom touched by many. “There’s no such thing as an easy, smooth path,” she remarked, “you just live your life.” “Basically we as artists are incredibly lucky. To see the world the way we do, can you imagine if you didn’t have that?”
What a joy to have known Marie Louise. She was a remarkable and lovely woman.