Sam Payne
The Reverend and Honorable Samuel Houston Payne, born February 4, 1933, died peacefully, surrounded by family, on December 31, 2018.
He was educated in the public schools of Chattanooga and graduated from the University of Chattanooga in 1958 with a B.S. Degree. While at the University of Chattanooga, he served as Vice President of his class and was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha Social Fraternity. He received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Tennessee College of Law, was a member of Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity and served as Vice President of the Student Bar Association.
Judge Payne entered the United States Air Force in 1950 for four years and served as a tail gunner on a B-29 during the Korean War, where he flew 25 plus combat missions; he also served in Europe.
Judge Payne was first employed by the law firm of Kefauver, Duggan & McDonald when he graduated and returned to Chattanooga. He was later a partner in the law firm of Bean, Payne and Phillips. In 1966, he joined with Judge Clarence Shattuck to form the law firm of Shattuck & Payne where he practiced law until his election in 1974 to Circuit Court Judge of Division II of the Eleventh Judicial District of Tennessee. He served in this position for 32 years until his retirement in 2006, having been reelected in 1981, 1990 and 1998.
Judge Payne was a member of the Tennessee Bar Association and the Chattanooga Bar Association. He was a member of the American Judicature Society, Chattanooga Trial Lawyers Association, and the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association. Judge Payne was a member of the Fellows of the Chattanooga Bar Association. Only lawyers who have outstanding records of service to the Bar and the Community are honored as Fellows. He served as Assistant County Attorney, representing Hamilton County for eight years. He was on the original Board of Trustees and served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Chattanooga Legal Aid Society. Judge Payne was a member of the Tennessee Judicial Conference and served on the ad hoc Compensation Committee. He was also a member of the “Records Commission of Hamilton County” by appointment of Claude Ramsey, County Executive.
Father Payne’s service to the Episcopal Church began at St. Peter’s Episcopal where he served in various roles, including Sunday School teacher, Vestry Member, Senior Warden, Lay Reader and Chalice Bearer. He also served on St. Peter’s Kindergarten Board and Vice President of the Hamilton County Episcopal Commissions. After four years of supervised study, he passed canonical examinations and was ordained to the Diaconate on June 25, 1978. After one year, he was ordained as a Priest on June 10, 1979, and served as Curate of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church until June 1994. In 1994, he began service as an assistant rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal until his retirement in 2013.
Some of the most enjoyable activities of Sam’s life were hiking in the Appalachian Mountains, traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway with Carolyn, and fishing with his family on their Lookout Mountain property. He also found great joy and fulfillment in his music ministry. Together with Jerry Mowery, Sam and Carolyn founded “Jerry and The Judge and the Jury”, and for approximately ten years, this group performed 30 – 35 times per year at various nursing and assisted living facilities throughout the Chattanooga area. Playing the guitar and singing, Sam thoroughly enjoyed bringing to the residents of these facilities the old-time gospel music which many of them could remember and join in singing.
Sam served his hometown of Chattanooga in many varied roles throughout his life. Those roles included serving on the first athletic council for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, when Harold Wilkes was Coach and as a board member of the UC Foundation. He also served as a member of the Board of Management of the Metropolitan YMCA where he was an active member for over 70 years; Vice-President of St. Barnabas Apartments and St. Barnabas Nursing Home; Treasurer and Chairman of the Board of TEAM Evaluation Center; Advisory Committee for the Cub Scouts; board member of Family & Children’s Services, CADAS (Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse), the Neighborhood Residential Center, Orange Grove, and Crime Stoppers. He was also a member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
In 1978 Judge Payne was tapped into Alpha Society University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as a distinguished alumnus. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in November 1996. In 2004 Judge Payne received the Ralph Kelley Humanitarian Award from the Chattanooga Bar Association for service to the community.
He was preceded in death by his parents, James E. and Ernestine Payne, brothers Joseph Ernest Payne, James Miller Payne and Woods Cunningham Payne Sr., and sister Barbara Payne Cannon.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Carolyn Lowe Payne, his three children, daughters Sharon (George) Hamrick and Dana Busé, and son Dr. Samuel Houston (Martha) Payne, Jr., eight grandchildren, Katie (Thomas) Wood, Tyler Hamrick, Payne Busé, Jack Busé, Sam Payne, Matt Payne, Emma Payne and Ian Payne, and three great-grandsons, Murphy Wood, Maddux Wood and Aaron Wood. He is also survived by two sisters, Jamie Alday and Pat (Lynn) Panter, sister-in-law Ethel Walker of Richmond, VA and sister-in-law and brother-in-law Dan and Shirley Page of Fort Meyers, FL, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Visitations are scheduled for January 11, 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm and January 12, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm with the service following at 3:00 pm at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 848 Ashland Terrace 37415. The internment of ashes will be held January 14 at the National Cemetery, family only.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to CADAS, YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga, Episcopal Relief & Development, or Metropolitan Ministries (MetMin).
The family would like to give special thanks to the caring staff at Erlanger Hospital ER; Dr. Jason Cox and the staff of the 3rd Floor Miller Eye Center; Dr. Larry Schlabach and the entire staff of Erlanger Oncology; Dr. Jerrold Selzer and staff of Hixson Pike Medical Center; Alexian Brothers Live At Home especially Jenna Ryan and special care giver Dana Brinkman; and Tom Tallent and the staff at Chattanooga Funeral Home-North Chapel.
Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory and Florist. Please share your thoughts and memories atwww.chattanooganorthchapel.com