- Date Of Birth: November 7, 1938
- Date Of Death: May 30, 2017
- State: Georgia
Mary Jean Avery Payne died peacefully in a comfortably intimate hospice setting in the pre-dawn darkness of Tuesday, May 30, 2017. She was 78 years old.
Born in Rock Mills, Alabama as the last of five remarkable daughters (tragically, their brother died as a toddler) to the equally remarkable Harvey Roy Avery and Elma Gertrude Duck Avery. Jean was a pure soul who selflessly put everyone else before her own simple and humble concerns. She touched the lives of all with whom she crossed paths. Inspiring many people without ever hurting anybody deliberately in any way, her Christian kindness, sweet smile, and silly love of playful childlike fun belied the inexplicable burden of suffering which she endured during an honorable life in which tragedy and rough treatment were met all too often with brave optimism and a heroic reluctance to voice the slightest complaint.
Jean Payne worked for half a century, from age 16 to age 65.
She is survived by her firstborn son, Jeffrey Donald Payne (55); sisters, Frances Treadwell, Mattie Perry and Nellie Estes; as well as numerous members of her extended family. She was preceded in death by husband Lloyd Donald Payne, daughter Susan Frances Payne Monroe, grandson James Donald “Jim” Monroe, sister Ruby Dean Avery, and brother Harvey Roy Junior Avery.
