Coach Bob Payne

Dec. 15, 1927 — July 13, 2009

Robert Roy Payne died July 13, 2009, at Regency Albany Rehabilitation Center. He was 81.

Bob was born Dec. 15, 1927, in San Francisco, Calif., to Charles and Julia Charnock Payne. He was raised and educated in San Francisco, graduating from Lincoln High School. He then served in the U.S. Army, stationed in Alaska. Following his honorable discharge, he returned to San Francisco and attended San Francisco City College from 1947 to 1949.

In the fall of 1949, he enrolled at Oregon State University, graduating in 1952 as a physical education major. Bob was recruited to OSU by legendary basketball coach Slats Gill, and played under him for two years on the varsity basketball team. He was also a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.

On Nov. 28, 1952, he married Marjorie Agan. They lived in San Francisco while Bob pursued a master’s degree at San Francisco State College. His first teaching job was from 1953 to 1954 at Forest Grove High School.

In 1954, he moved to Corvallis and took a teaching job at Corvallis High School. There he taught and coached varsity basketball for 10 years. In 1964, he became the athletic director at CHS and was also the vice principal. From 1969 to 1970, he was principal of CHS.

In 1971, he was named to oversee the building and staffing of Crescent Valley High School. When the new school opened in the fall of 1971, Bob was its first principal, a position he held until 1983. From 1983 until 1985, he was personnel director of Corvallis School District, and from 1985 to 1991, he enjoyed “fill-in” assignments at different elementary schools in the district.

Bob was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan. He was an avid golfer and longtime member of the Corvallis Country Club. There he served on the board and chaired several tournaments. He was an OSU Beavers fan.

Survivors include his wife, Marjorie of Corvallis; daughters, Julie E. Goebel of Portland and Patricia Giffen and her husband, Jon, of Pacific Grove, Calif.; a son, Donald E. Payne and his wife, Erlyn, of Livermore, Calif.; twin brother Donald F. Payne of San Francisco and brother Charles A. Payne of Gold Canyon, Ariz.; and six granddaughters.

Memorial services are at 2 p.m. Monday, July 20, at the Church of the Good Samaritan, 333 N.W. 35th St., Corvallis.

Memorial contributions can be made to Corvallis’ Jefferson Elementary School library in care of McHenry Funeral Home, 206 N.W. Fifth St., Corvallis 97330.