THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 8, 1996 TAG: 9603080534
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Willie Mae Payne, 93, died unexpectedly in her sleep Feb. 29, 1996.
The widow of Charles Franklin Payne born in Dayton, Va., she was a resident of Portsmouth in various assisted-living homes since 1991. She was born in Rome, Ga., the seventh of 13 children of William and Mae Tarvin. At age 18, she joined her missionary uncle in Matansas, Cuba, where she taught in the Methodist School for three years. Then becoming a bilingual secretary, she worked in Havana for seven years. There she attained her high school diploma by correspondence and for the rest of her life took college courses whenever the opportunity allowed, focusing especially on painting and the languages of Spanish, German and Russian. She returned to the United States to marry and have children. In 1939, they went to Mexico City, where she worked at the American Embassy until World War II broke out. During the war she became active in the Girl Scouts in Seattle. After the war she joined her husband in Regensburg, Germany, where she helped organized the German Girl Scouts and German-American Women's Club, whose object was to smooth the way for peaceful relations between countries. On retiring from the U.S. Forestry Service in 1964, she and her husband went as lay missionaries to teach at the Methodist School in Cochabamba, Bolivia, for 2 years. For 30 years, she with her husband was an active member of Chamblee United Methodist Church, Lions International, AARP, Meals on Wheels, Gideons, and the activities of the Fidelis Class at her church.
She is survived by her daughter, Dr. F. Anne Payne, Professor of English State University of New York at Buffalo; her son, Dr. Charles F. Payne, a local dermatologist; seven grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; a brother, G. Elliott Tarvin of Reno, Nevada; and a sister, Mildred T. Wilson of Hiawasee, Ga.
Her memorial celebration will be March 9, 1996, at 11 a.m. in Kings Grant Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach. The family has suggested that expressions of sympathy could be in the form of donations to the Fidelis Class, Chamblee United Methodist Church, Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, Chamblee, Ga. 30341, or a charity of choice.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB