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Mr. Kenneth Lee (Ken) (Coach) Bruno, 79, of Bartlesville, and former local high school basketball and golf coach, died at 8:05 P.M. on Sunday, December 3, 2017 in Bartlesville.
The Bruno family will meet friends at a reception in the Stumpff Funeral Home Chapel from 6 P.M. until 8 P.M. on Friday, December 15th.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 2 P.M. on Saturday, December 16th at the Bartlesville High School Fine Arts Center directed by the Stumpff Funeral Home & Crematory.
In lieu of flowers, the Bruno family suggests that memorial donations be made and memorial funds have been established to Bartlesville Public Schools, Ken Bruno Memorial for Bartlesville High School Athletics, P.O. Box 1357, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 74005 , or ElderCare, 1223 Swan Drive, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 74006, or to the Parkinson's Foundation of Oklahoma, 720 West Wilshire Blvd., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73116.
Coach Kenneth Lee (Ken) Bruno was born at Hominy, Oklahoma on December 12, 1937 the son of Johnny A. and Irene Rose (Smith) Bruno. He was a proud American Indian member of the Citizen Nation Potawatomi tribe. He began his education and participation in athletics in Hominy until moving to Tulsa with his family in the 9th grade, where he attended Bell Junior High and Rogers High School and he graduated in 1956. During junior high and high school he was active in playing basketball, baseball and golf and was a member of the 1956 State Basketball Championship team coached by Woody West. He also set the record low amateur round with a score of 66 at Tulsa's Mohawk Golf Course where he also won the National Indian Tournament at Mohawk Park in 1970.
In 1956 attended Oklahoma State University at Stillwater where he played golf and basketball until 1957 when he joined the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. Following his release from the Army he returned to OSU and then transferred to Northeastern State University where he played basketball for Jack Dobbins and to play golf. He lettered in both sports and the 1963 golf team qualified for the NAIA championship in which he finished 19th of 136. While at Northeastern he earned a Bachelor of Science in Education and in 1969 he earned his Masters in Education.
He was married to Marilyn Purviance in 1964 and in 2017 they celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary. In 1964, Coach Bruno began his coaching career at Avant High School where he coached all boy's and girl's sports, taught in the high school business department and was the high school principal. He and Marilyn took the six members of the 1966 graduating class to Six Flags for their senior trip in a nine passenger van. From 1966 to 1968 he was the Dewey High School's head boy's basketball coach and also the assistant high school and junior high school football coach and head junior high track coach, all while teaching in the business department and driving to Tulsa on Wednesday evenings to work toward his Masters degree. He was also surprised by the birth of his first son, Barry on his first day of school in Dewey at 6 A.M. on August 29, 1966, causing him to be a little late on his first day. Ken and Marilyn's second son, Brad was born in 1969. In 1968 he began his career at College High School/Bartlesville High School where he began as the assistant boy's basketball coach to Cecil Epperley for 2 years and then became the head boy's basketball coach for 14 years. He was also the head golf coach for 16 years and served several years as the head girl's golf coach and also taught physical education. In 1984 he became a coach and administrator at Metro Christian for 3 years, taught and coached at Hominy and Copan for 5 years. Following his retirement from public education he taught physical education at St. John's Catholic School, was a lay coach with Bartlesville High School girls basketball coach, Gerald Thompson and a lay coach with Bartlesville High School's golf coach, Jeff Rude, which he continued until his Parkinson's Disease took it's toll.
He continued to share his wisdom with his two grandsons, family and friends. He was honored to be requested for many speaking engagements, coached the Faith Seven Basketball All-Star Team in 1984, the All Star Basketball team at Northern Junior College in 1979, was the State Golf Coach of the Year in 1979, the District Golf Coach of the Year in 1979, and was also one of eight finalists for the National Golf Coach of the Year in Orlando Florida the same year. He was a speaker at Basketball clinics at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah and also at Coffeyville, Kansas during a Tri-State Tournament, was an Exchange speaker from Oklahoma to the Louisiana Basketball coaches clinic in 1978 and coached the Oklahoma All-Star Basketball team (North) in 1980. He was the Oklahoma representative in golf to the National Coaches Association for 5 years, the 3A State Representative to OSAA for golf for 4 years and the 4A State Representative to OSAA for Golf for 2 years. He was inducted into the Bartlesville Sports Commission's Hall of Fame on October 23, 2010 and the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on June 4, 2016. His coaching records included 6 state golf titles (1972, 74, 76, 77, 79 & 84), one runner-up for the girl's state title in 1981 and 8 trips to the state basketball tournaments. As a proud coach, 11 of his former basketball players have attended college on basketball scholarships, 21 of his former golfers on golf scholarships at 6 major colleges, 11 junior colleges and 4 small colleges. He also coached in the infamous 1979 seven overtime Sooner/College High basketball game which was a loss to Sooner, 93-94.
Coach Bruno is survived by his wife, Marilyn Kay Bruno of Bartlesville, two sons, Barry Allen Bruno and wife JoLynne of Jenks and Bradley Neil Bruno of Bartlesville, three grandchildren, Nathan Allen Bruno, Nicolus Ray Tessier and Analeah Love Bruno, a brother, John Anthony Bruno and wife Twila of Catoosa, a sister, Judith Gail Bruno Collins of Hominy, nieces, nephews, cousins, coaches and players too numerous to mention.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Bobby James Bruno and a sister, Mary Lorene Bruno Bearden.
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