Rick Bruner Sr., Director of the Booker T. Washington Recreation Center, is a native Sapupan who has spent the last thirty years serving his fellow man. He is a humble and gracious person, and when asked by the Sapulpa Times to speak about his contribution to the community, he said,” it’s hard to talk about yourself.”
Bruner started his community service in the late 1980s by becoming assistant pastor of The Philadelphia Seventh Day Adventist Church in Sapulpa. Under the leadership of Pastor Leslie Davidson, Bruner, along with his wife Joyce, established a Northside Neighborhood Watch program.
“Our family has always been a family to reach out and help people,” Bruner said. “My son Rick (Jr.), the coach at the High School, was a Boy Scout, and he would go out in the winter months and shovel snow. People would want to pay him but gave us canned goods so we could feed the homeless.”
“We are our brother’s keeper” is the motto that Pastor Bruner lives by. “That is the way our family has always been, his mom, his sisters, we just have always helped anywhere we could help people, it didn’t matter what color,” Bruner said.
Another pastime is ensuring the legacy of black leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. lived on in Sapulpa.
“We have always participated in Martin Luther King parades,” he said. “Even when we were working at Rockwell-McDonnell Douglas and my wife worked at American Airlines. we were big instigators in promoting and participating in big MLK parades in Tulsa and here in Sapulpa.”
Last year, Bruner was recognized for 25 years of service with the Sapulpa Parks and Recreation Department. According to Bruner, the tenure began by accident. While speaking to the City Council on behalf of the Neighborhood Watch, he asked if anyone knew of a job opening, since he had been laid off at McDonnell Douglas. Bruner said that Phil Crosslin—who was at one time the Parks Board Chairman—“got the ball rolling.”
The rec center was a perfect fit for Bruner. He had always been active in youth sports, coaching for many years. “Booker T. Washington was the place where I went to elementary school, so I had a love for this place. Being able to work here with the youth was always special.”
Bruner is now the pastor at Solid Rock Seventh Day Baptist Church in Tulsa and continues to work at the BTW Rec Center mentoring the youth and assisting them in any way he can.
“You always want to see them do better than you did…I wanted to steer them in the right direction.”
