Bernice (Rawlinson) Payne of Tulsa, and more
recently Owasso and Fort Gibson, passed away on
Wednesday, June 26, 2013, at the age of 96. She
had been ready to make this journey for 34 years,
ever since her husband, James W. Payne, passed
away in August of 1979.

Jim and Bernice had met when they took their first
teaching jobs in the Clayton Public Schools back in
1939. They married in March of 1940. After the
attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Jim enlisted in the
Army Air Corps and Bernice worked for the CCC.
When the war ended, Jim and Bernice moved to
Tulsa where Jim was a flight instructor at Spartan
Aeronautics and later, a science teacher and High
School Principal at East Central. Bernice taught
typing and shorthand first for many years at East
Central and then later at Nathan Hale. She retired
in 1982.

Bernice Rawlinson was born in Hugo, Oklahoma on
June 8, 1917, to Newton and Ethel Rawlinson. She
earned her teaching degree at Southeastern State
College in Durant and then met Jim in Clayton. She
was preceded in death by her parents, Newton and
Ethel Rawlinson, of Hugo, two sisters, Verda Holton
and Mattie Lois Glenn, also of Hugo, and one
brother, Hubert Rawlinson, of Colorado Springs,
Colorado, and of course, by Jim in August of 1979.

She then moved her church membership to the
Baptist Church of Tulsa where she was welcomed
by the Senior Adults Fellowship and the Senior Adult Choir.
Both played a huge part in helping her restart her new life
without Jim. Bernice traveled extensively with her sister Mattie
Lois and her daughter Beverly, as well as with
friends from the church. She made several trips to
Europe, several cruises and a trip to the Holy Land
with Bill & Gloria Gaither.

Bernice is survived by her son, Jim Payne and his
wife Claudia, of Broken Arrow and by their three
children, David Payne, Lauri Payne Thompson,
Michael Payne and his wife Bridgette, all of Tulsa
and by seven great-grandchildren; Tyler and Kyle
Payne, Hailey and Nathan Thompson, Blake Boles,
Madeline and Andrew Payne.

She is also survived by her daughter, Beverly
(Payne) Gorden and her husband Guy of Enchanted
Oaks, Texas and by their two children, a son, Greg
Gorden, and his partner, Chuck Neal, of Los
Angeles, California, and daughter, Elizabeth
Gorden Wright, and her husband, Mark, of Fort
Worth, Texas, and by two more greatgrandchildren;
Mackenzie Rae Wright and Jacob Byron Wright.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your
local church or to the Moore, OK tornado relief
funds. Visitatioh 8-9:00 A.M., Friday, June 28, 2013
at Moore's Southlawn. Service will be 10:00 A.M.,
Friday, June 28, 2013 at Moore's Southlawn Chapel