Raymond Payne
Raymond D. Payne, Jr., went to be with our Lord on September 14, 2017, due to complications following a stroke.
The son of the late Raymond and Myrtle Payne, Raymond was born in Fairview, Ga. The family moved to the Chattanooga area when he was four years old where he lived most of his life. Ray attended Central High School in the graduating class of 1944. He served in the Navy during World War II on the Saint Paul, a heavy cruiser, which fired the final naval volley on Japan at the end of the War and was the second ship to enter Tokyo Bay after the end of the War. In 1948 Raymond married the love of his life Mary Nell Fain, while attending The University of Tennnessee.
Ray graduated with a degree in Business Management from UT in 1950, and the couple moved back to Chattanooga where he began his career in real estate property management with C. V. Brown & Bro. where he worked for 32 years. He opened his own firm, Ray Payne & Associates 1982 - 1986, and then worked with the Fidelity Trust Co. and was forced to retire in 1987 due to health reasons.
During his career in Chattanooga real estate, as a certified property manager, Raymond served as a president of the Chattanooga Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management, as vice chairman of the Hamilton County Board of Property Tax Equalization, as a president of the Citizens Taxpayers Association, as a director in the Chattanooga Association of Realtors, and as a director of the Central City Council. Ray was a quiet, humble man and he did not want it mentioned here, but his son must, our family will always feel that his greatest service was brokering the sale of the Lookout Mountain Hotel, which became Covenant College. When the financing was tied up in government red tape and the option deadline on the contract was fast approaching, he knew that it would be a shame to loose such a great asset to Lookout Mountain and the Chattanooga area, he called business leaders Hugh Maclellan and Scotty Probasco and they agreed, they saw that the financing was arranged, and the deal was closed.
Raymond was preceded in death by his parents, Raymond and Myrtle Payne and his grandson, Tyler Whittier.
Raymond is survived by his wife of 69 years, Mary Payne, son, Robert Payne, and daughter, Mary Catherine (Steve) Whittier, and his grandsons, Spencer (Ali) Whittier and Carter (Megan) Whittier.
Ray was a devout Christian who lived his faith and practiced "The Golden Rule". He and Mary were former members of Central Presbyterian and later became longtime members of Covenant Presbyterian.
The family would like to say thank you, to all the kind doctors, nurses and other folks at Erlanger East Hospital, and Hospice of Chattanooga.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to: Covenant Presbyterian Church, 8451 East Brainerd Road, Chattanooga, Tn., 37421 or to The American Heart Association.
Graveside services will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 19, at Chattanooga National Cemetery with Reverend Eric Mullinax officiating.
Please visit www.heritagechattanooga.com to view the memorial tribute and share condolences with the family.
The family will receive friends from 5–7 p.m. on Monday and 12–1 p.m. on Tuesday at Heritage Funeral Home, East Brainerd Road.