‘He was wise, he was kind’
Chandler’s Coy Payne, Arizona’s first African American mayor, is laid to rest
Chandler’s mayor and council members offered tributes.
Family shared memories.
And a memorial to Coy Payne was entered into the Congressional Record last week.
Payne, who was the first African American mayor in Chandler and in Arizona, died on Dec. 8 at age 90.
A crowd filled Chandler Center for the Arts for his memorial service on Monday.
A longtime community activist, Payne served on the Chandler City Council from 1982 to 1990 when he was elected mayor. He was also a veteran, a longtime educator and a mentor to many.
Jeannette Woods Decker, Payne’s sister-in-law, said the licence plates on Payne’s vehicles were
“To go from picking cotton to a college education to teaching school in a school district that he could not attend as a child ... and then the mayorship: That was really a successful life.”
Pastor Willie Arbuckle Sr. Childhood friend of Coy Payne
“Legacy1” and “Legacy2” — showing he was always thinking ahead.
“Coy left behind a treasure trove of good deeds — a great legacy,” she said.
Singluar life and character
Family and friends recalled Payne’s singular life and strength of character. His family moved from Texas to Arizona when he was 12 for better cotton sharecropping and educational opportunities.
Payne attended segregated schools in Chandler and picked cotton in his spare time. His 91-year-old sister, Ruth Payne Franklin, recalled walking her younger brother to school through dusty Chandler fields, careful to avoid snakes and to dodge roaming bulls.
Payne was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in the Korean War before returning to Arizona, where he earned a degree in education and spent more than three decades as a teacher and administrator in the Chandler Unified School District — the same district that had barred him from attending high school.
The only high school he could attend was an all-black school in downtown Phoenix, an hour bus ride and 30-minute walk away. Chandler High School integrated in 1949, shortly after Payne graduated.
“To go from picking cotton to a college education to teaching school in a school district that he could not attend as a child, then working in the community, chairing the housing authority, getting elected to the City Council and then the mayorship: that was really a successful life,” said his childhood friend Pastor Willie Arbuckle Sr.
“In all of it, he still remained humble and friendly and a wonderful person,” he added.
Those personal qualities, more than his remarkable achievements, were highlighted most by the more than 15 speakers at Monday’s service.
Phillip Westbrooks grew up down the street from the Payne family. He said Payne changed his life and mentored him for his own Chandler City Council run. Westbrooks served on the council from 1998 to 2006.
Councilman Matt Orlando recalled running for office along with Payne in 1990. Orlando said he was surprised when he won a council seat, but he knew all along that “Mr. Payne” would win the mayoral race because he knew everyone and was so respected.
He had a comforting voice and easy smile. “Mr. Payne made you feel like you were a longtime friend,” Orlando said.
Opened doors for others
Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke said he first met Payne three decades ago as a graduate student on an assignment to interview city leaders. To his great surprise, Mayor Payne agreed to meet with him.
“He was wise, he was kind, he was cordial and he was quite helpful,” Hartke said. “Coy Payne was a man that found doors and walked through them that were not available to him.”
He did the same for others. “Coy opened doors for (others), either through inspiration or through direct intervention,” Hartke said.
U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, who represents parts of Chandler, presented the Payne family with a copy of a memorial to Payne he entered into the Congressional Record last week.
“Last week was a busy week in Washington, D.C. and in Congress,” Stanton joked, referencing the House’s impeachment vote, but he said he found time to enter a tribute to Payne’s life and leadership into the official national record.
Stanton praised Payne’s commitment to a “life of service” through the military, teaching and political office.
“Coy Payne led Chandler to be one of the most successful cities in the United States of America and it continues to be that way today,” Stanton said.
Payne had said that becoming mayor was his greatest honor, according to city historian Jean Reynolds, who read from an interview she did with Payne about 15 years ago.
“When I look at myself in the mirror, I’m proud that I was the mayor of Chandler,” Payne had told Reynolds. “The most proud that I’ve become is that people saw enough in me to elect me as mayor and to give me the opportunity to make that difference that I always felt that I could.”
A legacy of respect and service
Payne’s legacy continues with the Chandler Men of Action — a male African American mentorship group — honoring outstanding men in the community annually with an award in Payne’s name.
Chandler’s Payne Junior High School also is named after Payne and his wife, a former district schoolteacher.
Principal Paul Bollard said Payne’s legacy lives on at the school. He recalled Payne coming to speak to middle school students, who “hung on his every word” and then rushed to line up and shake his hand.
“He has left a legacy, as he intended to, a legacy that is founded in his beliefs and his spirit and his heart,” Charles Payne, his younger brother, said. “He has a beautiful flower that has been trimmed and planted and it has prospered. His flowers are all here.”
Payne is survived by his wife, six children, 13 grandchildren, six great grandchildren and many other relatives, according to the family obituary.
He was buried at Chandler’s Valley of the Sun Cemetery.