‘I’ll keep on singing’ Tulloch says

Many Saultites will automatically recognize Bob Tulloch as the anthem singer at Soo Greyhounds games, but for the past year, he has also been a member of the Algoma Residential Community Hospice (ARCH) volunteer team, comforting residents with his gospel singing.

Residing not far from the hospice, Tulloch, working on last year’s Christmas music program at Bethany Baptist Church, offered to sing gospel hymns to ARCH residents in their rooms.

“They (ARCH staff) said ‘by all means,’ so I came over and they gave me a list of residents and if the resident requested it, I sang to them.”

“When I sing to a resident I get to see the smile, the eyes close and they try to sing along. I’ve had others who have known every song and they’ve sang it word for word with me. It’s been a real blessing to be able to sing to them personally,” said Tulloch, who visits ARCH once a month and on special occasions.    

“I don’t know who I’m going to sing to when I come to ARCH. I walk in and they say, for instance, you’re requested in rooms one, five and seven, but sometimes before I leave I’ll end up singing in a couple of other rooms because they may have overheard me singing in one of the other rooms. So, I go with the flow.”

“Quite often there are family members present in the room visiting, and I try to offer some peace, some comfort, some joy, some hope with the message that’s contained in these songs.”

Gospel favourites Tulloch sings to ARCH residents include Amazing Grace, What A Day That Will Be, It Is Well, Peace in the Valley, In The Garden, Precious Lord and Wonderful Peace.

“I believe what I’m able to do in this setting is something not a lot of people are comfortable doing, singing to someone who you know is dying. It’s not an easy thing to do, but it’s something that I can do."

“When it comes to volunteerism...some ARCH volunteers have been coming here for years and come once a week. What I do is just something I can share. The Lord’s given me this gift to share, and I hope it brings some comfort to the residents and their families.”

“So, I’ll keep on singing,” Tulloch smiled.

“People ask me ‘what key do you sing in’ and I say ‘the key of Bob.’ I have no idea what key it’s in. I know when I look at a sheet of music if that little dot is on the top line it’s too high so I tend to sing a bit lower than how the hymn was originally written,” Tulloch said, describing himself as a ‘crooner.’

Tulloch was born in Blind River and raised in the Sault.

“Most of my schools are history. The old Prince Charles School doesn’t exist, and Sault Collegiate is history. Maybe I’m next, I’m not sure,” he chuckled.

After attending Royal Military College, he returned home and served as a Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officer, then as a Sault College Police Foundations instructor.

Wanting to keep busy after leaving Sault College, he worked as the East End Husky general manager.

“I’m not really retired at this point. Who knows what the future will hold,” Tulloch said.