Shirley Payne, 69, of Fitzgerald, GA, died Thursday, April 5, 2012, at the Coliseum Medical Center in Macon.
A Mass will be held at 10 AM Tuesday, April 10, at St. William’s Catholic Church with Father Raymond Levreault officiating. Interment will be held at Westlawn Cemetery in Mantua, Ohio. The family will receive friends from 7-9 Monday evening at the funeral home in Fitzgerald.
Mrs. Payne was born October 5, 1942 in Mandan, North Dakota to the late Luiggi and Barbara Friesz Zappardino. She graduated from Bismarck High School in Bismarck, North Dakota in 1960 and received her Bachelor’s Degree from Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio in 1982. Mrs. Payne moved to Fitzgerald in 1984 from Mantua, Ohio. She taught kindergarten at Nordonia School District in Ohio, was a substitute teacher for Crestwood Local School District in Portage County, OH and retired from teaching third grade Social Studies for Ben Hill County Elementary School. Mrs. Payne was a member of St. William’s Catholic Church where she taught CCD classes. She was a member of the Fitzgerald Pilot Club, Ben Hill-Irwin Retired Educators and was an employee of the Blue & Gray Museum. Mrs. Payne was a loving wife, mother and grandmother who enjoyed cross-stitching and reading.
She is survived by her husband, Lonzo M. Payne of Fitzgerald; daughters and sons-in-law, Debra & Steve Wellbaum of Farmersville, OH and Jennifer & Michael Miller of Rincon, GA; son and daughter-in-law, David & Sheila Payne of Irwinville, GA; grandchildren, Davey, Andrew, Matthew, Eric and Joshua; great granddaughter, Emily. Along with her parents, a sister preceded her in death.