Roll Call Tribute

Harry Alan Payne
September 29, 1941 ~ September 5, 2022

Harry Alan Payne, 80, of Kerrville, Texas, died peacefully in his sleep, on the afternoon of September 5, 2022.

A native Texan, Alan first came to Kerr County in mid-2008, when he and his wife Ann settled near Center Point after returning to the U.S. from serving three years as missionaries in China. They went back to China in 2010 and served for two more years before returning permanently to the Hill Country in mid-2012, at which time they moved into Kerrville. He also served on mission trips to Ethiopia and Brazil.

Alan and Ann (the former Ann Porter Laurence of Corpus Christi) were married in Houston in 1976 at the church where they met in a singles Bible study. Ann survives him, as well as five children: Laura Morello of Waller, Anne Payne of Sulphur Springs, Julia Laurence of Sherman, Jonna Davis of Center Point, and Christopher Payne of Dallas. He is also survived by eleven grandchildren: John Morello, Michelle Uherek, Phil Morello, Emily Schendel, Melissa Campbell, Steven Payne, Jack Payne, Will Murphy, Cavan Davis, Pace Davis and Jeremiah Payne, and nine great-grandchildren: Lucas Morello, Audriana Morello, Garrette Ray, Kathryn Uherek, Molly Schendel, Elizabeth Schendel, Halle Schendel, Juniper Campbell, and Emery Murphy. And he is survived by two younger brothers, Howard Payne of Rockwall, and Gordon Payne of Sulphur Springs, their wives and seven nieces and nephews.

Alan was born September 29, 1941, in Tyler, Texas, to Harry Allie and Moiselle Massey Payne, both of whom predeceased him. The family moved from Tyler to Sulphur Springs in 1946. His grandparents were Dr. and Mrs. Allie F. Payne of Sulphur Springs and Mr. and Mrs. John A. Massey of Tyler.

Alan graduated from Sulphur Springs High School in 1959 and attended Texas A&M University on an academic scholarship. He was the editor of The Battalion during his senior year, and was a member of the Corp. He graduated in 1963 with a degree in journalism. Alan then served as an Army commissioned officer during the Vietnam era before embarking on a business career in Houston in the mid-1960s. After retiring in 1999 as Vice President of Investor Relations from Seagull Energy Corporation, he spent time teaching at a Christian school before embarking to China where he taught business classes and English classes to Chinese university students.

He and Ann are members of Southern Oaks Church in Kerrville. While in China they served under the care of the Commission to Every Nation, also of Kerrville.

A visitation will be held at 10:30 A.M. at Southern Oaks Church, with a memorial service to follow at 11:00, on Monday September 12, with Dr. Joe Taylor officiating. A private burial service for family members will be held at Highland Cemetery in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Alan's family would like to thank the staff at Peterson Hospice for the dedicated care they provided over the last several months, as well as the nursing team at Hilltop Village, whose staff showed such compassion before he passed.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests Memorials may be directed to Commission to Every Nation, 815 Jefferson St., #140, Kerrville, TX 78028, (www.cten.org). 

Funeral arrangements are under the care of Wright’s Funeral Parlor (www.wrightsfuneralparlor.net).