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::: COMMUNITY NEWS
Murietan Hazel Payne dies at 95 Published Thursday, November 23, 2006 Hazel Payne celebrated her 95th birthday Oct. 25 by having pineapple upside-down cake for breakfast followed by a whirlwind day of beauty care -- manicure, pedicure, perm and dinner out. "We just were going strong," her daughter Dixie Kieffer recalled. "She looked beautiful." Kieffer took photos throughout the day, and it's her mother's radiant smile, not the oxygen apparatus she depended on to ease her breathing, that stands out in picture after picture. Shortly after her birthday, Mrs. Payne, who survived bouts with breast and lung cancer over the years, was diagnosed with liver cancer. She died at home with family members at her side Nov. 17.
A memorial service will be held Sunday at the North Gazebo at 2 p.m. The Laguna Joaquin location was chosen because Mrs. Payne enjoyed the view of the lake from the townhouse she shared with her daughter and son-in-law Jim Kieffer. "Mama sat here every day for breakfast," said Dixie Kieffer about the bright kitchen that looks out on the lake. "You can see everything that happens, and Mama just loved it. … Having her here with me was such a blessing. Every day we spent was such a gift. I was so lucky to have her for so long. … She was my friend." "She was a sweet little gal," said Cathy King, who founded Super Social Seniors for older women in the community several years ago under the auspices of the Rancho Murieta Women's Club. Mrs. Payne was an active member who belonged to a pinochle group in addition to participating in the larger group activities and get-togethers. "She loved it out here. She had a wonderful time (in Super Seniors)," said her daughter. Mrs. Payne was skilled at sewing and expert at crocheting, and often worked with her daughter on projects, including making scarves and selling them at Trash 'n' Treasure, the community's once-a-year yard sale event at the Plaza. "Whatever we were doing, we did it together. She was wonderful," said Dixie Kieffer. While it's not unusual to find multi-generational families residing in Rancho Murieta, this was a remarkable four-generation family group when Mrs. Payne and the Kieffers moved from the Bay Area after Dixie Kieffer retired from teaching. Mrs. Payne's granddaughter Angie Friedrich already lived here with husband, John, and their children, Jeff, 13, and Sarah, 10. Angie, who teaches high school science, won the Elk Grove Unified School District Teacher of the Year in 2003. Mrs. Payne enjoyed a close relationship with her great-grandchildren from the time they were born. She was present at Jeff's birth in 1993, the same year she left Kansas to live with the Kieffers in California. Mrs. Payne was born in Emporia, Kansas, on Oct. 25, 1911. She married at 25 and the family moved to a farm in 1946. Initially, there was no electricity or indoor plumbing. Her mother's first-hand experience of the Dust Bowl and the Depression later inspired Dixie Kieffer to introduce her to her students as a way to make history come alive. "I was an elementary school teacher for 28 years, and every class I ever had met Mama," she said. Mrs. Payne was preceded in death by her husband and two brothers. In addition to her family in Rancho Murieta, she is survived by daughter Charlotte Reale, two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren in Oklahoma. The family requests remembrances be sent to the American Cancer Society in lieu of flowers.
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