Robert Leslie Rumball OC OOnt (October 2, 1929 – June 1, 2016) was a pastor and advocate for the deaf and those with special needs. After studying at

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, he began his career as a football player, playing at the varsity level before playing professionally for the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

in the position of half-back for the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

. After four seasons in Ottawa, he was traded to Toronto where he played one season for the

Argonauts The Argonauts ( ; ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', named after it ...

. During this time, he attended

Northern Baptist Seminary Northern Seminary is a Private university, private Baptist seminary in Lisle, Illinois. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History The Seminary was founded in 1913 by the Second Baptist Church of Chicago under the name ''No ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in the off seasons, and preached on Sundays at various churches. He was introduced to

Deaf culture Deaf culture is the set of social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, values, and shared institutions of communities that are influenced by deafness and which use sign languages as the main means of communication. When used as ...

while preaching at the Evangelical Church of the Deaf, located at the time in downtown Toronto, and began a lifetime of advocacy. He learned

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

to communicate with Toronto's Deaf population, and give their needs a voice. Realizing they needed a place of their own, Rumball purchased land in 1960 to establish the Ontario Camp of the Deaf in 1960, and opened the Ontario Community Centre for the Deaf (now called the Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf) in 1979. The Bob Rumball Canadian Centre of Excellence for the Deaf houses numerous programs and services, including the Evangelical Church of the Deaf, a preschool, a long-term care home, and the Ontario Association for the Deaf. The centre is managed by his son, Derek Rumball. Rumball's work has been recognized with many honours, including the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

, the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

, and appointment as a Citizenship Court Judge. Rumball died at the age of 86 in Parry Sound Ontario on June 1, 2016.Bob Rumball was a fierce advocate for Ontario’s deaf community
Elizabeth Renzetti, Globe and Mail obituary, June 15, 2016

References

External links

Bob Rumball Canadian Centre of Excellence for the Deaf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rumball, Bob 1929 births 2016 deaths Canadian disability rights activists Deaf culture in Canada Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Ottawa Rough Riders players Players of Canadian football from Ontario Sportspeople from Toronto Toronto Argonauts players Toronto Varsity Blues football players