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Obituary

A life of faith, family, friends

By Marty Clear
Published April 20, 2007

PLANT CITY - Like so many people who lived and worked up north, the Rev. Robert Payne retired to Florida.

Unlike some, the Rev. Payne didn't sit around soaking up the sun and watching television.

"That wasn't his style at all," said Joyce Payne, his wife of 58 years.

For the Rev. Payne, retirement was more like a career change. In 1987, after he left his career as a pastor and an official in the United Methodist Church, he spent many years as a visitation minister and Sunday school teacher at First United Methodist Church and as the Plant City Police Department chaplain.

It was only in recent years that the Rev. Payne's health prompted him to lighten his workload. He died April 11 after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 83.

The Rev. Payne grew up in a small Iowa town and was actively involved with the Methodist Church from an early age. It was at a gathering of young Methodist leaders where he and his future wife first met.

"I met him in 1946 at a Methodist student leadership conference in western Indiana," Joyce Payne said. "He was president of the Iowa Methodist Student Movement, and I was president of the Wesley Foundation at Florida State College for Women."

They were drawn to each other immediately, but their relationship faced a substantial obstacle: As soon as the conference ended, they had to return to their respective schools 1,000 miles apart.

"We were together just for that one week," she said. "After that, we corresponded frequently and also had the telephone."

The expense of long-distance phone calls in those days, and the limitations of handwritten letters, caused their conversations to be more substantial than those of most young couples, Joyce Payne said.

"It was very unusual, but we're thankful it was that way," she said. "By the time we were married, we had learned so much about each other. We knew how we felt about the important issues, and we knew how much we had in common."

When they married in 1947, they had written countless letters but had spent very little time together.

They lived mostly in the northeast, where the Rev. Payne served as pastor in a number of churches and eventually became a district superintendent for the United Methodist Church in northern New Jersey.

They retired to Plant City, where Joyce Payne had grown up. Among his duties with First United Methodist Church was visiting families who moved into the area and encouraging them to attend church, and working with shut-ins.

Although he continued his busy schedule of church work, his wife said he also continued to live a well-rounded life.

"His life centered around faith, family and friends," she said. "He loved his work, he loved his life and he loved people. He loved to read and write, but he also loved parties, and he loved to dance. He had a wonderful sense of humor."

Besides his wife, the Rev. Payne is survived by daughters Gloria Colvin and Carol Brinkley; four grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

[Last modified April 19, 2007, 06:48:54]