Max Anthony Payne of Blackwell, Oklahoma, died Thursday afternoon, August 5, 2010, in the Hillcrest Manor Nursing Home in Blackwell at the age of 91 years.

Max Anthony Payne was born on March 22, 1919, in Blackwell, Oklahoma, to Jack August and Anna Mae (Malone) Payne. He grew up in Blackwell attending Blackwell Public Schools and graduating from Blackwell High School in 1940. He then furthered his education by attending Northern Oklahoma Junior College in Tonkawa for one year.
He married Leda Cecelia Bradford on October 6, 1940, in Blackwell in a double wedding ceremony with her sister, Connie Weigle and husband Harold. They settled on a farm in northern Kay County and he farmed for three years. He entered the United States Army Air Corps on October 18, 1943, serving during World War II in the South Pacific. Following his discharge on May 14, 1946, he returned to Kay County and worked for Moss Motor Company as a salesman before moving to Sterling, Colorado, where he worked for B. S. and S. Tank Company. They returned to Blackwell and he worked for the Kirkpatrick and Associates Compression Plant before returning to car sales with the Ray Hamlin Chevrolet dealership and the Ford dealership. He later worked as personnel manager for the Acme Foundry in Blackwell and retired from the plant. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Blackwell, the Top of Oklahoma Historical Society, American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He also held a fifty year membership in the Masonic Lodge and served as a Blackwell Regional Hospital volunteer.

He is survived by his wife, Cecelia Payne of Blackwell, Oklahoma; nieces, Penny Payne Anthony of Blackwell, Oklahoma, and Pam Weigle Cooper and husband Dennis of Irving, Texas; nephew, Terry Weigle and wife Mary of Ponca City, Oklahoma; sister-in-law, Connie Weigle of Blackwell, Oklahoma; and a great niece and nephew, Lindy and Cash Anthony of Blackwell, Oklahoma.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Margaret Ann Payne; and a brother, Jack Payne.

Services are scheduled for 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 10th in the First United Methodist Church in Blackwell with the Rev. Kristen L. Brown of the First United Methodist Church officiating. Burial will follow in the Blackwell Cemetery with military rites performed by the Blackwell American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Casketbearers will be Jim Rodgers, Harold Aldridge, Jim Willis, Dennis Hutton, Jim Galloway and Henry Fetters.

A memorial has been established in his honor with the First United Methodist Church in c/o Roberts and Son Funeral Home, 120 W. Padon, Blackwell, Oklahoma 74631.