Roland “Bud” Weckerly, 86, of Butler Township, sings a hymn each day for his daughter and her co-workers at Butler Memorial Hospital.

One day last week, Stacey Weckerly Heider, a registered nurse at Butler Memorial Hospital, was having a tough day as the entire medical staff deals with the coronavirus and its effect on the county's residents.

So she used her break to call her father, Roland “Bud” Weckerly, and asked him to sing her a song.

Weckerly, 86, of Butler Township, obliged his daughter with the hymn “In the Garden.” Heider was better able to continue her shift as a result of the spiritual shot in the arm.

Weckerly, knowing Heider and her co-workers are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, wanted to help them out in some way.

“He asked if there was anything he could do, and I said 'Dad, you could sing for us,' ” Heider said.

So each day, Weckerly, a lifelong singer and longtime choir member at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, belts out a hymn in his still-strong tenor while his stepdaughter, Melanie Rodgers, accompanies him on the grand piano in the Weckerly's living room.

Heider plays each day's hymn for her co-workers after their evening meeting on her unit, 7 Tower, where Heider is the clinical supervisor.

She then began posting her father's daily hymns on her Facebook page, and many more hospital staff members made the songs a regular part of their day to fortify them as they carry out their work.Friday will mark the eighth consecutive day Weckerly uplifts the BMH staff with a hymn.Heider said the reaction of her tired and apprehensive co-workers has been overwhelming.“Most of them tell me it puts them in tears, but they're tears of joy and hope,” Heider said, “and it reconnects them spiritually because it's difficult at this time to understand why God is letting something like this happen to the whole world.”Jennifer Fencil, another registered nurse on 7 Tower, said Weckerly's daily hymns are very comforting for the hospital's staff.“A lot of people wait for it to be posted every day,” Fencil said. “It has helped in a roundabout way to bring a good sense of community and family back to each one of us who it has touched.”She said some staff members put in requests for hymns they find comforting or that evoke warm memories.“It just brightens part of our day to wait for that,” Fencil said. “There's been an overwhelming positive response.”Ken DeFurio, president and CEO of the Butler Health System, is touched that the father of a BHS nurse is singing to his staff each day to help ease their stress and tensions."What can I say other than that it is a song from the heart?" DeFurio said. "It is beautiful, just beautiful."Weckerly is happy to croon for his “darling little daughter Stacey” and her co-workers.“Every day when she gets there, they have a gathering before they start to work, and that's when she hits them with a song,” Weckerly said Thursday afternoon. “I recorded number seven this morning.”He has many stories from over the years about singing hymns that touched people at just the right times in their lives, and he is happy to provide the hymns for the hospital staff.“It makes my heart pound a little bit, but I'm happy I have the ability to do it,” Weckerly said. “Stacey tells me the people like it.”

His wish is that the hospital staff members are able to find comfort and strength in the words to the treasured old spirituals he performs each day.“My daughter said some of them cry when they hear me,” Weckerly said. “I just hope it uplifts them a little because I want them to realize the meaning of the words.”Heider said the hymns are getting more and more views and positive comments each day, which Rodgers shares with Weckerly.“Dad is seeing all the wonderful thank-yous he's getting, and he understands he is making a difference by singing to us,” Heider said.Rodgers is in town from Alabama and staying with the Weckerlys to care for Bud and Zoann, her mother, who was a music teacher in the Butler Area School District for 35 years before retiring.She is happy to accompany her stepfather on the piano, but is even more thrilled the mini concertos are inspiring the hospital staff to stay strong as they navigate their jobs during such an uncertain time.“It's the power of music and the power of family and love,” Rodgers said. “It was just a daughter wanting to be soothed by her dad's voice.”Heider said she and her co-workers are horrified at the coronavirus news from New York City but continue to do their best to care for the patients who depend on them.“We're doing OK. We rely a lot on each other at low times,” she said. “There are lots of ups and downs and we figure it out. We're more confident and in control every day.”Plus, they have each day's hymn to give them strength.“Stacey said it's helping the morale for her nurses, so as long as we can find songs to sing, we're gonna do it,” Weckerly said.<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fstacey.bowman.376%2Fvideos%2F10222788180235669%2F&show_text=0&width=270" width="270" height="476" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>