Douglas Bruner

Douglas Bruner was called home to be with his Lord and Savior, at age 68, in Chinook, Montana, on May 13, 2014.  Funeral services will be held Saturday, May 17, 2014, at the Chinook High School Auditorium at 1 p.m. Arrangements have been made with Edwards Funeral Home of Chinook.

Doug was born on March 4, 1946, to Duane and Lizzie Bruner in Conrad, Montana. Doug spent his childhood witheight siblings on the family ranch in Dupuyer, Montana. He met his lifetime love, Trudy (Sanson) Bruner, at the age of 14 and married her on Jan. 24, 1964, in Valier, Montana, at the Valier Methodist Church. Their family grew with the birth of three daughters, Stacy (Bruner) Semenze, Tara (Bruner) Overcast and Dawn(Bruner) Colby.

His brand new family brought about the need to leave the ranch and find his second passion, the oilfield. He spent his entire life in the oilfield, starting at the age of 18, in the Cut Bank area. Doug spent his life moving from rig to rig, from roughneck to companyman until 1988 when he built Faith Drilling Incorporated. He created many relationships and lifelong friends along the way. Nothing was more important to him than building relationships with the people he met. His rig crews were his family. He would worry over every employee's cares and spend sleepless nights praying over their worries.

The only thing that was more important than Trudy and the rig was his Lord and Savior. His relationship with the Lord was his unwavering compass. His lifelong dream was to "feed the hungry." He fed many hungry souls with his love of the desperate and hurting. He hugged every person with a "dad-felt" embrace and showed the love of Christ to whomever would listen. Being on the church board was one of his opportunities he had to put his love of God's people into action. 

Doug loved to fish and spent his last days with his grandkids at the local pond. He enjoyed his grandkids and family dinners cooked by his wife. He was blessed to have taken a trip of a lifetime to Alaska with all the men of the family last summer. He had never taken that much time off from work but had realized how much he loved being out there with the boys doing something he loved. This January, Trudy and Doug were able to celebrate 50 years together with a family get together in Fairmont. Doug was so thankful for these few gatherings and made sure his family understood how blessed he felt. His favorite saying was: "We're a blessed people."

Doug is survived by his wife Trudy; his children, Paul and Stacy Semenze, T.J. and Tara Overcast, John and Dawn Colby; his brothers, Gerald (Marla) Bruner, Rodney (Debbi) Bruner; his sisters, Sharlin (Jack) Arnst, Dorthy (Earl) Perkins, Myrna (Vern) Monroe, Patricia (Joe) Lewis and Alethea (Lyle) Woelich; his mother-in-law, Jennie Hostetter; and sister-in-law, Sharon Briden. He was also survived by 13 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. He had many nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles and cousins who will miss him.

He was preceded in death by his mother and father, Duane and Lizzie Bruner; his sister, Linda Curtis; a nephew; a sister-in-law and great nephew; and his grandparents.