Victor Evan William Payne ’28

Victor Payne died on June 19, 1989, at the Princeton Medical Center. He was born in Sunbury, England, and came to the U.S. at the age of six. His family lived in Penns Neck. He graduated from Princeton High School and studied for a year at the Hun School. At Princeton, he played lacrosse during freshman year and majored in psychology. Throughout his career, Vic worked at the university. He retired in 1970. For a time, he also capitalized on his artistic talents by developing a side-business of interior decorating. Refinishing wood was a hobby he especially enjoyed.

Vic began to suffer a decline in his hearing before he finished college, and by the time he was in his 50s, he was totally deaf, but he was able to continue working. He also was an avid writer. Bill MacNamee, a classmate of his in high school and college, has spoken of his lengthy and encouraging letters to friends, and Vic wrote stories for his grandchildren, expressing his lively sense of humor. He kept active chiefly with tennis, which he played regularly up to a few months before his death. He belonged to the Princeton Seniors Tennis Group.

Vic married Alice Margaret Bathie in 1935. She survives him, as do a daughter, Alice; two sons, Samuel W. and Victor Jr.; and five grandchildren. Vic had a strong sense of loyalty to the Class of 1928 and to Princeton. Our appreciation and sympathy is expressed to Alice and the family.

The Class of 1928