‘Pursued Me Instantly’—Priscilla Shirer and Candace Cameron Bure Share How They Met Their Husbands

Priscilla Shirer’s father is Dr. Tony Evans, co-founder of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas. Jerry and Priscilla had been attending Oak Cliff at the same time for seven years without ever meeting each other. They sat far apart in the sanctuary, she said, and “our paths just did not cross.”

By the time the luncheon came around, Priscilla had forgotten about potentially meeting Jerry but said that when he walked through the door at the event, she did a double take. They finally met, and “he just kind of pursued me instantly,” said Priscilla. 

Priscilla and Jerry hardly talked at the luncheon, but he left a message on her answering machine that night. She was cautious about getting to know him, however, because she had been in a relationship prior to meeting Jerry and was still somewhat hopeful for that relationship to be renewed. So she told Jerry on their second or third date about that hope and said she wanted to take getting to know him pretty slow. 

“And I’m telling you, a month after we met, I called my dad one day and said, ‘Hey dad, what are you doing?’” said Priscilla. “And he said, ‘Oh, I’m sitting here talking to Jerry.’”

“Get out!” said Candace. “Did he call your dad?”

Priscilla said Jerry knew if he could “get in good” with her father, “then Priscilla will have to pay attention to me.”

“So he did,” she said, “and he just was kind of real intentional and serious from the very beginning.”

“Wow!” Candace responded. “That’s so great.” She went on to share how she met her husband, Valeri Bure. Valeri is a former professional hockey player and the son of Vladimir Bure, former National Hockey League (NHL) fitness consultant and the winner of four Olympic medals for the Soviet Union.

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Candace met Valeri at a charity hockey game that her “Full House” castmate Dave Coulier invited her to. Similarly to Jerry, Valeri “called me the very next morning,” said Candace. “He asked for my phone number that day and then called me the next morning and said, ‘Hey, do you want to go to lunch?’”