Tullison “Tully” Tate (1958-2013, Opelika, Alabama).
Ancestors: Jonathan Tate (1758-1833, Ulster, Ireland) Scots-Irish immigrant to colony of New York. Joshua Tate (1828-1904, Perry County, Alabama). Tullison Tate (1852-1924, Perry County, Alabama). Hazel Tate (1886-1963, Linden, Alabama). Joseph “Sonny” Tate (1946-2003, Opalika, Alabama).
Tully’s father was country singer Sonny Tate. Tully married Rosalie Broussard (born Vivian, LA; father, Mike “Sarge” Broussard) who was an unstable woman and runs off repeatedly from the family home. Initially after his marriage Tully and Rosalie lived in Mobile, Alabama but then they moved with their twin girls to Hosston, Louisiana. There he works at the Springhill pulp paper mill driving a timber truck and reconnects with his boyhood friends the Broussard and Thibodaux families.
Tully is a decent, hard-working, family man but who also likes to drink and party on occasion. His primary worry in life is his wife, Rosalie, who will disappear from time to time, leaving the twins unsupervised. For a while, Tully would track her down and bring her back home until, finally, he gives up and let’s her go (see song “What Tully’s Done“).
Although his job in Springhill ended when they shut down the paper mill, he and his girls remained in Hosston until his death in 2013 after a short illness (see song “Hosston to Bastrop“).
Highway 80 Stories 