Doris Payne

Doris Wilma Payne, 86, of Garnett, Kansas, passed away Friday, February 4, 2011 at St. Francis Medical Center in Topeka. She was born March 23, 1924 in Hanna, Oklahoma, the daughter of Roy Melville Payne and Leona Blanche McMichael. The family moved from Hanna to Cadmus, Kansas in January 1929. Doris attended elementary school in Cadmus and high school at Parker Rural High School. After graduation from high school, she attended Ursuline Academy in Paola, Kan. Then she entered nurses training at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City Mo., graduating with an RN degree in 1945. She worked at several private hospitals, including Doctors Hospital in Washington, DC. In 1952, Doris took a commission in the United States Air Force as a Second Lieutenant and served 20 years, retiring in 1972 as a Lieutenant Colonel. During her time in the Air Force, she was stationed all over the country, including a stint as a recruiter in New York State. She served a tour of duty in Japan and two in Germany, in Bitburg and Ramstein, where she was chief nurse of the Air Force hospital. After retirement from the Air Force, she moved to Kansas City and worked as a nurse at St. Luke's Hospital. In the mid-1970s, she was school nurse at Kemper Military School and College in Booneville, Mo. Doris returned to the family home in Garnett, KS, in 1978 and lived with her widowed sister, Elizabeth McDonald. She worked part time at the Anderson County Hospital and served on the hospital board for many years. She was also one of the founding members of the Anderson County Hospital Foundation. She was active in Chapter Y of the PEO sisterhood and was president for two years. She was active in the Episcopal Church in Ottawa, Kan., assuming many leadership roles. She continued to be active in the church thrift shop. Doris was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers and one sister. She is survived by a brother, Robert R. Payne, Topeka, as well as several nephews and nieces: David McDonald, Richmond, Va.; Andrew McDonald, Kansas City, Mo.; Elizabeth Abraham, Garnett, David Deranja, Sacramento, Calif.; Patricia Hageman, Ithaca, Neb.; William Payne, Stansbury Park, Utah; Kendall Payne, Coffeyville, Kan.; Paul Payne, Wilmington, NC; and Ellen Jensen, Lawrence, Kan. Services will be held at 10:30 AM, Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at the Feuerborn Family Funeral Service Chapel, 219 S. Oak, Garnett, KS 66032. Memorial contributions may be made to the Anderson County Hospital Foundation, and left in care of the funeral home. Condolences to the family may be left at www.feuerbornfuneral.com