A private family service for Kendall Allen Payne, a retired car salesman and finance officer, will be held Thursday, April 1, 2021 at the Greenville Cemetery under the direction of Boone Funeral Home. The Rev. Michael Lindsay of First United Methodist Church in Greenville will officiate. He died at The University of Mississippi Medical Center on March 26, 2021.
He was born at The King’s Daughter’s Hospital in Greenville on June 12, 1961 to William Payne, Jr. and Marian Frances Shawblosky Payne.
He graduated from Greenville Christian School and Mississippi State University. While at Mississippi State, he was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He attended First United Methodist Church in Greenville during his early life. After graduating from Mississippi State University, he worked several years for Campus Crusade for Christ.
He enrolled in ROTC while at Mississippi State. He joined the Army in 1979 and was commissioned as an officer in 1981, retiring from the Army National Guard as a Captain in 1994. While serving with the Army National Guard, he served on active duty as Battalion Tank Commander during Operation Desert Storm. He reenlisted in the Air National Guard in 1995 and retired in 2004.
He was married to Kendra Barber Payne, and they were the parents of twin boys, Lee and Jackson Payne.
He was an avid SEC Sports fan, and had an interest in militaria and sound systems. The beach was his happy place. He was a Civil War buff, so it was fitting that he named his sons after two generals that served in that war.
He is preceded in death by his parents, William and Frances Payne.
Ken leaves to cherish his memory his wife, Kendra Barber Payne, twin sons, Robert Edward (Lee) Payne, and Thomas Jonathan (Jackson) Payne of Jackson; siblings William David Payne, Sr. and his wife, Judy, of Ridgeland, Mary Ann Payne Ashley and her husband, Wally, of Cleveland, and Melinda Mildred Payne Nichols of Greenville; and a host of nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Disabled American Vets, or the
Wounded Warrior Project.