John L. Payne, aged 80, passed away on December 20, 2021 after a battle with dementia. Born in Paris, Illinois on March 31, 1941 to the Reverend John H. Payne and Rosalee Payne, John was the youngest of five children and was raised in a series of small towns in Illinois and Minnesota where his father was a Methodist minister. John graduated from Wilson High School in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1959 and attended Hamlin University and the University of Minnesota.

John met the love of his life, Petrea Candace Morton, in the summer of August 1962 and they were married one year later on August 4, 1963. John started his career at the St. Paul Athletic Club where he worked until he became the Athletic Director at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, California in 1968.

Although John loved living in the bay area, his next career move meant a new job selling athletic apparel for Champion Products in 1970 and took the family to Denver, Colorado, where John & Candace raised their two children, Kimberly Ann Payne and Robert Morton Payne.

Selling apparel became John’s passion and he was really good at it, earning top sales recognitions on a regular basis. During his career with Champion, he made friends with almost every football coach, athletic director, and bookstore owner in the states of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. He had a special love for selling t-shirts where he was able to be creative with logos, slogans and mascots—with many of his designs living on today. Over the years, John and Candace were able to return to living in the San Francisco Bay area for a few years and also spent a few years in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In 1999, John & Candace returned to their adopted home state of Colorado to take on the challenge of starting a new business in direct marketing called RSVP Colorado. John’s skills in sales ensured their new business was successful and they worked together in this field until they sold the business in 2006.

One of John’s joys in life was going to Disneyworld with his family where many happy memories were made with his wife, his children and his grandchildren. This special place became the venue for the special celebration of John & Candace’s 50th wedding anniversary with the entire family in attendance.

Never ones to stay in one place for too long, John & Candace made their last move in 2014 to Bluffton, South Carolina where they could enjoy “retirement” in a warm climate and be closer to their grandchildren. John and Candace kept their beloved mountain cabin in Coal Creek Canyon, Colorado and spent summers there until two years ago when covid and John’s progressing disease made travel there more difficult.

John suffered one of the biggest heartbreaks of his life in October 2018 with the loss of his son Robert to heart failure. 

John is survived by his wife of 58 years, Petrea Candace Payne, his daughter, Kimberly Payne Lucky and her husband David, of Ridgewood, New Jersey, and his beloved grandchildren, Megan, Shannon & Peter who all loved their Papa dearly.