Linda Lucille Payne

Linda Lucille Payne (1943-2024) was born in DeWitt, Arkansas, the second of four children of

Marshall and Ruby Flemings. Her siblings were Margie Brown, deceased; Harold Flemings of

Missouri, and John Flemings, deceased. She spent her childhood in Arkansas where her father

was a cotton sharecropper. Her parents divorced, and Ruby remarried James Pake and the family

moved to Dinuba, California, where Lucille went from grade school through high school.

She often shared stories of being a tomboy and playing on the boy’s baseball team because they

didn’t have enough boys for the team. One of her favorite childhood memories was attending the

1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, with her school choir.

Lucille’s family came up to Oregon in the summer to pick beans. While here they lived in the

bean camps in Stayton. It was there that she met and fell in love with Dean Payne in 1961. His

family had migrated to Stayton from Oklahoma. When the bean picking season was over Dean

asked her to go back to Oklahoma with him. Even though it upset her mother greatly, she left

Oregon and traveled to Konawa, Oklahoma with him. Dean and Lucille were married in Konawa

on March 11, 1962. They didn’t waste any time starting a family. Lucille is survived by her three

children: Denise Pallett (Roy); Quonna Bender (Alan); and Dean, Jr. (Janel).

Eventually they decided to settle in Oregon permanently where they both worked for the Wallace

family in the 1970's. They bought a house in Aumsville where they lived for over forty years and

raised their family. Dean continued to work for the Wallace family for many years and they

became extended family to Dean and Lucille and their kids.

Lucille’s early career was working with the handicapped through Goodwill Industries. She loved

that job and found it rewarding. She brought many of her handicapped clients home with her and

integrated some of them with her family. She had a giving heart and enjoyed sharing her family

with those that didn’t necessarily have a family to spend time with. To this day Lucille’s kids

have a special place in their hearts for the mentally handicapped.

Lucille’s next career move was to Emporium where she became the manager of the men’s

department. She had an outgoing personality and customer service suited her well. She had

quite a following of customers there that came especially to see her to dress them for weddings

and special events. She worked there for some twenty years and earned many awards for her

loyalty and performance. She took a lot of pride in her work and made some great friends at

Emporium.

It was around this time that Lucille started attending oil painting classes. She took to it like a

duck to water. She loved her painting time and her favorite things to paint were scenes from the

Pacific Northwest and anything that had a waterfall in it. She collected post cards and greeting

cards that had pictures and often used them for inspiration. She enjoyed creating a new painting

for her kids and grandkids for birthdays and weddings and she gifted the family all of her favorite works of art.

Lucille is also survived by her eight grandchildren: from Denise she had Caitlin Coyle and Luke

Pallett; from Quonna she had Paul Bender, Emilee Kadell, Kellee Coonrod, Julee Korkow and

Aaron Bender; and from Dean she had MacKayla. She also had 13 great grandchildren. She

took pride in all of them.

Lucille was a fighter until the very end. She is resting now in the arms of the love of her life, but

she will forever be in our hearts.