Joel Arthur Bruner

Joel Arthur Bruner, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, passed away on August 15, 2025. Both of his sons, daughter in law, and hospice care were present. Joel was born in Fort Worth, Texas on May 3, 1930, to the son of Cecil Marion Bruner and Ruby (Williamson) Bruner. He grew up in Fort Worth, graduating from Northside High School in 1947. He went on to Baylor University where he earned a BA in Religion in 1951. He married Ruth Sherman, also of Fort Worth, in 1951 and entered Southwest Baptist Seminary, and completed a Master of Divinity in 1955, in the School of Theology. He pastored a small Baptist Church in Haslet, TX for a few years, and served as a BSU Director in Magnolia, Arkansas for the next few years before entering the field Personnel Management and Labor Relations at the A. Brandt Furniture Company in Fort Worth. He continued this work for Bell Helicopter in the 60’s and 70’s, and finally for the U.S. Postal Service, where he retired.

Joel is survived by his brother David Bruner, and wife Becky and children, and brother-in-law Bruce Tankersley, and children. Also surviving are his two son’s Woody and Andy, and Woody’s three daughters, Emily Bryant and husband James, Caroline Day, and Sarah Calk and husband Nick, and eight grandchildren, Wyatt, Avery, Lucy, and Margo Bryant, Elizabeth Day, Noah, Wells, and Leo Calk, ranging from ages 2 to 16, and Andy’s partner Ann Haworth. Joel’s sister, Sandra Tankersley preceded him in death in 2024.

In 1991, Joel married Brenda Burk of Oklahoma City and proudly accepted her two sons, Todd and Thad, as his own. Thad and Christine had two children, Peyton and Savannah, to whom Joel and Brenda were loving grandparents. Although retired, Joel remained active in church, the Canterbury Choral Society, and Gideons International, where he helped to spread the Gospel to all who would listen and distributed bibles to those in need.

Joel was blessed with a beautiful, rich, baritone voice, and he shared it with his community wherever he happened to be. Joel sang in any church he happened to be in, including out of town visits to friends and relatives. A committed Christian all his life, he was always active in church work, serving as a deacon in Fort Worth, Amarillo, Shreveport, and Oklahoma City. He often led congregational singing in college and later as interim music director in Sherman, TX. He was a wonderful father, always having time for his sons and their varied interests, which included sports, camping, hiking, boating, swimming at Burger’s Lake until midnight (it used to be open that late!), building projects, and probably best of all, tennis.

A Celebration of Life ceremony will be held for Joel on September 21, 2025, 2:00pm, at the Chickasaw Nation Community Center, at 4001 N.W. 39th St, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73112.