William H. Payne Sr., 81, WWII veteran, USS Steel retiree
William H. "Junior" Payne, Sr., age 81, of Lorain, died Sunday May 23, 2004 in the emergency room of Community Health Partners Hospital and Surgical Center, West following a brief illness.
Mr. Payne was born in Ashland, Kentucky on April 30, 1923 and had been a resident of Lorain since 1940.
He was a World War II US Navy veteran serving as a Seaman First Class; he fulfilled duty assignments as a cargo-handling specialist aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Nields. He participated in the invasion of Normandy and was the recipient of the American Campaign Theater Ribbon, The European African Middle Eastern Service Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal
He was employed as a millwright and relief foreman on the finishing end of the #4 Seamless Mill of U.S. Steel Corporation's Lorain-Cuyahoga Works. On April 30th of 1983 he entered the plant wearing a baby blue tuxedo reporting for his last day of work ending a career that spanned forty-one years and one month with the company.
Mr. Payne was a former member of Our Savior Lutheran Church where he served as a Luther League advisor as well as a member of the church building committee. He strongly influenced the teaching of Native American beliefs, practices, and culture among his children and served as an assistant with Cub Scout Pack # 350. He was a coach and umpire with the Lorain Youth Baseball League, as well as Vice President of the Southview Band Parents' organization, which saw him serving as a chaperone on numerous band trips among other responsibilities.
He was and avid hunter and fisherman who also enjoyed gardening, and reading, especially subjects relating to the out of doors. Additional interests included travel, and watching programs on the Discovery Channel.
He is survived by his wife of fifty-four years, Anna (nee Johnson), sons: William H. Payne Jr., of Amherst, Kenneth L. Payne of Lorain, daughters: DeAnne M. Richards of Cincinnati, Deborah J. Grignon of Phoenix, Arizona, and Annette Schuyler of Lorain, sixteen grandchildren, two step grandchildren, and one great granddaughter, along with several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents: Elza and Marie (nee Tackett) Payne, and sisters: Minnie Irene Feldman, Mary Elizabeth Clements and N. Faye Loughrie.
Visitation will be Tuesday from 7-9 p.m. and Wednesday from 2-4 & 7-9 p.m. in the Gluvna-Shimo-Hromada Funeral Chapel 3224 Broadway, Lorain. Funeral services will be Thursday at 11:00 a.m. in the funeral chapel with the Reverend Jimmy W. Madsen, co-pastor of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lorain officiating. Burial will follow in Ridge Hill Memorial Park Amherst Township, where military honors will be conducted by officers and members of American Legion Post #30 and Mullen-Murray Post# 451 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.