5/10/2001
Canyon Courier, Evergreen, CO

Ruth Jensen Payne of Evergreen, a homemaker, died in her sleep on April 25, 2001. She was 74.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, May 5 at 2 p.m. at Church of the Hills Presbyterian, 28628 Buffalo Park Rd. in Evergreen.

She was born Ruth Grace Jensen in Albany, N.Y. on Aug. 11, 1926, the third of four children born to Elsie and Walter Carl Jensen. She graduated from Bethlehem High School in Delmar, N.Y. and Becker Junior College in 1946. She worked as an executive secretary for General Electric until 1951.

She married Robert D. Payne on May 28, 1950, and gave birth to three children in Schenectady, N.Y. The family moved to Denver in 1957, where she described her profession as “household engineer,” though she later resumed secretarial work with Public Service Co. The couple moved to Evergreen in 1989.

She was an active member of P.E.O. and Friendship Force, and also served as Chair for Deacons at Church of the Hills. Until her lengthy illness with multi-system atrophy, Ruth was an enthusiastic skier and backpacker.

She is survived by her husband, Robert, daughter Susan in Denver, sons Dexter in Denver and David in Boulder, and by her sister, June Ogden of Flat Rock, N.C.

The family has requested donations in lieu of flowers made to Memorial Fund, Church of the Hills, P.O. Box 1210, Evergreen 80437; or to Mount Evans Hospice and Home Health Care, 3721 Evergreen Pkwy., Suite 9, Evergreen 80439.