Donald L. Payne, aged 86, passed away February 24, 2014 in Dallas, Texas.

Don was born on November 20, 1927 in Omaha, Nebraska. He graduated from Classen High School in Oklahoma City, going on to take a degree in Geophysics at the University of Oklahoma. After graduation he entered the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany. After his service, he began a lifelong career at the Phillips Petroleum Company as a geophysicist, retiring as a Director of Exploration in 1985.

While working in Tulsa, he met and married Norma Jean Smith in 1954. Early seismic exploration took the couple through some 15 moves in their first 8 years throughout locations in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado. In Colby, Kanas, their first child, Bryce, was born in 1956. When Bryce turned 5 they settled in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where their daughter Kristin was born in 1963. They remained in Bartlesville for nearly 10 years and made many friends.

After a 2 year stint in Shreveport, Louisiana, the family settled in Kingwood, Texas, a Houston suburb, in 1973. Don and Norma remained in Kingwood for over 3 decades, seeing the birth of their grandson, Jack, in 2004. Later that year Norma became ill, and the couple moved to Dallas, Texas to live next door to daughter Kristin in 2006.

Norma passed away in 2008, and Don, in declining health, moved in with Kristin and her family in 2013. He is survived by his son Bryce, daughter Kristin, her partner Shawn Mahoney and grandson Jack Mahoney.

Don was a loyal sports fan, especially when it came to his beloved OU Sooners, the Houston Oilers and later the Texans. He was a world class jazz aficionado and a regular fixture at local jazz and blues festivals, often playing elder statesman by mentoring his offspring and their friends through the finer nuances of these two classic American art forms.

He is remembered by family and friends as an unshakably kind and decent human being with never an ill word toward anyone. His life was an inspiration to all who knew and loved him.