Robbie Anna Payne

Robbie Anna Sutherland Payne, 78, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, October 13, 2010. The family will receive friends from 1:30PM to 2:30PM on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at Harris Funeral Home. Funeral services will begin at 3:00PM at the First Baptist Church in Abbeville on Saturday, October 16, 2010. Burial will follow in Long Cane Cemetery. Robbie was born in Pelzer, SC on January 17, 1932, the youngest of three daughters, to Grace Hiott and William Onzie Sutherland. She was a graduate of Abbeville High School and an honors graduate of Carson Newman College where she served in a host of leadership positions. She married Tommy Joe Payne of Pickens, SC on June 1, 1954 in Ridgecrest, NC and moved to eastern North Carolina to attend Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Together they ministered to congregations in Sharpsburg, NC, Robersonville, NC, Greenville, NC and Pactolus, NC. Robbie was always about serving others. Her professional career included the Dept. of Social Services and the Dept. of Human Resources in Greenville, NC and was the Director of Social Services for Abbeville County. She was an animal lover who fed every stray cat that came along and intensely loyal to her God and family. She expressed her love of traditional sacred music by singing in church choirs and whistling the tunes in the kitchen. She was a fabulous cook who could create a feast out of next to nothing. She is preceded in death by her parents and her two sisters, Madeline Gillespie and Lila Woolbright. She is survived by her husband, Tommy Joe Payne, her children Tommy Joe Payne, II of Winston-Salem, NC, Anna Marie Payne Rogers of Greensboro, NC and Laurie Ann Payne Whitmire of Abbeville, SC, her grandchildren Sarah Barkley Rogers, Anna Payne Rogers, Grace Anne Whitmire and William Payne Whitmire, her sons-in-law David Whitmire and Steve Rogers, her brothers-in law John Gillespie and Alfred Woolbright, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law Billy and Dorothy Payne, along with a host of nieces and nephews. The family wishes to thank her faithful caregivers, her doctors and their staff and all who made visits, sent cards and remembered her in their prayers. In lieu of flowers, gifts would be gratefully accepted at the Abbeville Humane Society, P.O. Box 219, Abbeville, SC, 29620 and also at First Baptist Church of Abbeville, SC for their programs for youth and missions, P.O. Box 825, Abbeville, SC, 29620. The family is at the home of Mr. and Mrs. David Whitmire in Abbeville. A message of condolence may be sent to the family by visiting www.harrisfuneral.com HARRIS FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES of Abbeville is assisting the Payne family.