Frank H. Payne, SKC, USN, (ret) of Gainesville Drive, Warwick, died at home with his faithful dog, Clark, at his side. He was married for 52 years to the late Rosemary Boyd Payne, of Warwick, RI, and was predeceased by his son, Joseph C. Payne
He was born in Independence, Missouri, the son of GH Payne of Kansas City, MO. and Marguerite Huston Payne of Independence, MO., on 12/23/1928. He graduated from Kansas City schools, worked on the Kansas City Star paper routes from 1939-1945 and enlisted in the United States Navy on January 1946. He was aboard the LST 545 for the Atomic Bomb Tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946 and is an Atomic Veteran, as well as a veteran of the Korean War and Vietnam War. He served with NATO in Naples, Italy (1952-1954), aboard the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (1961-1962), and retired from the United States Navy in 1965 after serving at the Pittsburgh Naval Reactors Office (1962-1965). Upon retirement from the Navy in 1965, he attended Bryant College, graduating in four years while also working full time, in 1971. He was formerly employed by the U.S. General Accounting Office, NCUA, OSHA, DECASR, Navy Clothing & Textile Research, Natick, MA, SupShips, Boston, NavDatAut Facility, Newport, and as Financial Manager, NRREDONE, Newport, RI. After serving the federal government for over 40 years, he suffered a broken back and retired in 1988. He also worked for JL Marshall & Sons, in Pawtucket, RI, L.Vaughn, and ODEC, in Warwick, and worked for the Outlet Co. right after his discharge from the Navy in 1965.
He is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Douglas Payne and Helen Prochniak Payne of North Carolina, and daughter, Glenna Stolzberg and her husband, Jeffrey, of North Kingston; a sister, Jeane Barnett of Independence, MO, his half-sister, Nancy Duvall, of Grandview, MO; his three grandchildren, Glenn Payne and his wife, Katy Couts Payne, Katie Payne, and Samantha Stolzberg; and numerous nieces and nephews.
His funeral and burial were held in Rhode Island Veterans’ Cemetery, Exeter. For online expressions of sympathy, visit www.boyleandsonfuneralhome.com
