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Submitted: 3/22/21 • Approved: 3/22/21 • Last Updated: 3/25/21 • R400743-G0-S3
November 5, 1917 - March 11, 2004
*Obituary
LEVELLAND - Funeral services for E.C. Payne Jr., 86, of Levelland will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 13, at First United Methodist Church in Levelland. Officiating will be Rev. Jesse Hodge, pastor, and Rev. Ray- mond Ochoa, pastor of Providence Baptist Church of Lubbock. Burial will follow in the City of Levelland Cemetery under direction of George C. Price Funeral Directors.
He died at 10:10 a.m. Thursday, March 11, 2004, at Covenant Hospital in Levelland.
E.C. was born Nov. 5, 1917, in Snyder and moved to Levelland in 1928. He married Jimmie Lea Lawson on June 8, 1944, in Lubbock. Before World War II, E.C. and his four brothers had formed a family basketball team that took on all high school and college freshman teams on the plains. He enlisted in the service with the plan to serve one year and then war was declared on Dec. 7, 1941. From then until 1945, he served in the U.S. Army with the Fighting 69th in Germany, the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 and 1945. Following his discharge he attended college on a basketball/football scholarship at West Texas State College. He owned and operated Levelland Auto Supply for 22 years and worked at Fishers Auto Supply for 11 years, retiring in 1982. He was a member of First United Methodist Church of Levelland and served as chairman of the board from 1967 until 1970. He was active with the Methodist Men, the Lions Club, and Jaycees. He was a 40-year member of Levelland Lodge #1236, AM & FM.
Survivors include his wife, Jimmie Lea Payne of Levelland; two daughters, Sheri Jean Belyeu of Lubbock and Susan Marlene Bradley of Crosbyton; a son, Rev. E.C. (Buddy) Payne III of Snyder; a sister, Vivian (Pete) Poston of Ruidoso, N.M.; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Contributed on 3/22/21 by texasfindagraver
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Record #: 400743