Last night I learned that another long time Family Friend had passed away.

Earlier this week our friend Grace Lyon passed away and I shared a few thoughts in my post Family Friends IV.

Tonight I will share some pictures and thoughts about Bill Payne who passed away in Ottumwa, Iowa yesterday.

The pictures that I am sharing this evening come from our family archives and were taken at Kamp Keomah in around 1960.

Several of the posts that I have seen about Bill Payne today have mentioned Kamp Keomah, so I though that these would be a good way to remember him. The picture above is of the teachers and cooks from one of the camps. Bill is the second from the right in this picture. My eyes are also drawn to the tallest man in the picture. Raymond Lyon is the husband of Grace who passed away earlier in the week.

Other posts that I have seen today mention that Bill loved to sing and had a great voice. Here he is practicing with three other teachers. Bill is the man in the plaid shirt and is holding the song book.

Here is the same group singing together during an evening service.

Here is another picture of teachers and cooks from the camp. In this picture Bill is in the middle of the back row. As I look at this picture I have memories of some of these men as they taught me years later when I was in summer Bible Camp.

Bill also liked to play ball at Kamp Keomah. My Mom said that there was a picture of Bill playing softball in the set of pictures I looked through, and I think that this is the one. The picture is too blurry to tell for sure. It does bring back wonderful memories of playing camp ball.

There is another picture of people playing softball at Kamp Keomah, as well as other camp scenes, in my post Summer Camp.

I will close with what my Mom wrote on Facebook today:

Our condolences to Anola and the Payne family. Bill was a wonderfully remarkable teacher at Kamp Keomah. That is where my memories of him begin. We had the greatest men who came there to teach not only the Bible but how to live a good life. He was a great preacher, tribe leader, counselor, singer, ball player, and team leader. He was a lot of fun but was very serious about helping to guide us to be who we are today. Thanks Bro. Bill. God Bless You.

I have similar thoughts about many of the the teachers I had in Bible Camp and I know that many of my friends have the similar memories.

I have many memories of Bill and his family and stay in touch with most of his children and some of his grand-children. Bill was a great example and inspiration to my family and friends and I am glad that he has been a part of my life.

Steven