Melvin Douglas Bruner passed away at Holdenville General Hospital on Wednesday, April 13, 2011, at the age of 66 years. Melvin was the son of George & Lizzie (Harjo) Bruner, born on January 17, 1945, in Claremore, Okllahoma. He was brought up in the Tulsa and Sapulpa area and graduated Sequoyah Indian School at Tahlequah in 1964. He attended the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas in 1964 and 1965. He enlisted during the Viet Nam War for two terms in the United States Army and served in Thailand and Germany before being honorably discharged in 1972. He returned to Sapulpa, where he worked for fifteen years at Liberty Glass Company as a shop mechanic. He owned and operated his own construction company for several years in the 1980s. He was diagnosed with Leukemia in 1989, and was a 20-year survivor of the disease. Melvin moved to Holdenville in 1991, and has made his home here since that time. He was a member of the Little Cussetah Baptist Church of Sapulpa, and attended the Salt Creek United Methodist Church north of Holdenville. He was a ‘shade tree' mechanic, loved working on cars and tinkering with anything that could be built or repaired. He very much enjoyed the company of others, and loved just visiting and talking. He is preceded in death by his parents, George & Lizzie Bruner; one brother, David Bruner, and one sister, Anne Inay; one nephew, John David Inay; one brother-in-law, Dave Inay. He is survived by one brother, George Douglas Scott and wife Willena, of Holdenville; four sisters: Phyllis Warrington and spouse Kugee Supernaw of Skiatook, Deborah Clark of Wewoka, Georgetta "Jo" Fixico and husband Paul of Sapulpa, and Wanda Bruner of Oklahoma City; one aunt, Alice Stevens of Tulsa; ten nieces, three nephews, thirty-seven great nieces and nephews, and nine great great nieces and nephews; numerous other relatives, extended family, and many friends. Funeral services will be held at Salt Creek Methodist Church Saturday ~ April 16 ~ 1:30 p.m. Interment will be at Harjo Family Cemetery. Funeral services will be officiated by Rev. Jimmy Alexander and Rev. Edwin Jimboy. Graveside rites will be officiated by Rev. Dave Long, Jr. Pallbearers are nephews and great-nephews. Honorary pallbearers are Tommy Harjo, Clarence Johnson, Roley Johnson, Butch Frazier, Freeland 'Butch' Powell, Jerry Wilson, Paul Fixico, Andy Clark, Kenneth Brown, Alfred Wilson and Louis McGeeley.