A Tribute to a Father’s Love

Jason Pruner was president of the Chickasha Kiwanis Club when he met fellow-Kiwanian, Lieutenant Crystal McFarland, the then Chickasha Corps officer. They struck up a conversation about The Salvation Army, and, as the Pruner Family was in search of a new church home, the McFarlands were happy to invite them to worship the following Sunday.

The Pruners visited the corps that Sunday and have been faithfully involved in worship and service ever since. That was five years ago.

“We felt welcomed at The Salvation Army,” Cassie Pruner says. “We knew right away that we were at home, a part of the corps family. Worshiping and serving here is different than any other church we had been to.”

The Pruner Family includes husband and wife Jason and Cassie, and their adult children, Kayle and James. They also cared for a foster child, Ronnie, for a period of time.

Jason was volunteering for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) when he and his son, James, traveled to The Salvation Army’s Camp Heart O’ Hills in 2024 to be cabin counselors for a group of middle school boys. Unfortunately, that night Jason was suddenly promoted to glory.

The family was in shock and are still understandably grieving. But they have also dedicated themselves to service through the Chickasha Corps as an ongoing tribute to their beloved husband and father.

This story is about Jason’s influence on each of his family members, and how they are determined to continue his Christlike example of love and service through The Salvation Army.

Wife Cassie was saved at age 13, led to the Lord by her dad. She married the love of her life, Jason, on August 15, 1995. Jason was an ordained minister at the time and faithfully wrote weekly Facebook devotions as a part of his ministry. Jason’s Christian faith was contagious for Cassie for their 30 years together.

“I’ve grown in my faith over the years, mostly because of Jason,” she says.

Jason’s sudden passing had a deep impact on his son James. He still has trouble speaking of his father without tears welling up in his eyes.

“Dad played a big part in my coming to the Lord when I was seven,” James says. “Growing up, I didn’t realize how right Dad was in correcting and counseling me when I needed it. Now that I’m an adult, I follow his pattern.”

On the fateful night of Jason’s passing, Cassie and Kayle were on their way to Camp Heart O’ Hills after receiving the shocking news. And James could not fall asleep. So, he spent the rest of that night reading a pocket New Testament his dad had kept, finding that “there was something in my heart that needed scripture” for direction and solace.

James, now in his 30s, says he and his dad were close, “like two peas in a pod. Still, I was a stubborn teenager, and I thought he was always being too hard on me. But now I realize everything he did was for me, my mom, and my sister. If I am ever a good man, it’s because of Dad.”

In the year that followed his dad’s passing, James successfully read the entire Bible, finding insight in how Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus.

“In our loss, I’ve learned that it’s okay to be hurting, but at the same time to be rejoicing because we know we’ll be together up in Heaven someday,” James says.

Daughter Kayle was saved at age 12 and will never forget a wonderful father/daughter two-week mission trip to Kenya when she was 16. Together they worked at an orphanage and school, ministering to children while teaching them about Jesus.

At age 19, Kayle experienced a serious health condition that saw her in and out of hospitals every month for nearly a year. Her dad was right by her side for much of that time.

“He was able to work from home and took me to all the treatments. And the hospitals I was in are not far from home, so he was able to remain with me,” Kayle explains.

“The doctors caught Kayle’s condition very early, which is so fortunate because most people contract permanent nerve damage,” her mom, Cassie, adds.

This condition would be frightening to anyone, but more so for young Kayle. Her father’s reassuring presence throughout the ordeal is something she will always cherish.

Over the past five years, Cassie has assumed a very prominent role in the corps family. Everyone, especially the children, know her as “Oma,” the German term for “Grandmother.” She teaches the toddler class on Sundays, while the entire family is active in corps worship and service.

Cassie credits her corps officers, Lieutenants Bobby and Crystal Mc- Farland, for gently shepherding and upholding the Pruner Family from the very night Jason was promoted to glory.

“They came to Camp Heart O’ Hills immediately and, along with the camp staff, began to help us through the grieving process. It’s something that’s ongoing. And the entire corps family keeps their arms around us.”

And so it is that the Pruner Family continues to worship and serve the Lord through the Army, continuing the example left to them by Jason.

“The thing is, Dad had a servant’s heart,” son James says, while tearing up. “He didn’t know a stranger and would help anyone, and I mean anyone, in need. Our service here is a tribute to him.”

Adding that his dad was “a great example of Jesus’ command to love one another,” James reminds himself of something Lieutenant Crystal told him at Jason’s Celebration of Life service. “She said that Dad heard the words that very night that we all strive to hear from our heavenly Father: ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!’” (Matthew 25:21).