Leigh W Payne

A pic of my Granddad, Leigh W Payne. Born in 1913 in Republic, KS to parents, Leitha King and Dr. Ray Payne, he lost both within one week of each other to the influenza outbreak of 1918. Granddad worked in the local dairy at age 6, to help earn money for the support of his sister, Neva. They lived with Aunt "Mom", who because she couldn't afford to finish the construction of her house, raised the children in that part of the house she was able to finish: the basement! (Later on, however, the house was completed) Granddad's performance in school was stellar. At 16, he jumped a boxcar with $20 sewed into his underwear waistband on his way to see a man about an American Austin car. A hobo in the boxcar held him up at knifepoint, but finding only a few cents in his wallet, turned him loose and invited him to share in a meal of canned franks & beans. During the drive home, the Austin's brakes failed, it tumbled off a curve, where it then lay on its side in flames. He jumped up, threw sand on the fire, rolled the car back onto its wheels, and continued driving home. Granddad, strong in math, physics, and chemistry was instantly accepted at the University of Kansas, where he graduated with high honors a Metallurgical and Chemical Engineer. He headed several companies, namely Kilgore, Hamilton Die Cast, and Ohio Die Cast. He was responsible for creating critical components for the Manhattan Project, and at one time, outed an enemy sympathizer who was sabataging productivity in the plant. He was elected to serve as Mayor in the town of Riverlea, Ohio. Items from his window component factory are still widely in use today. Granddad married Virginia Foster, an accomplished pianist from the Columbia College for Women, and had two daughters, Virginia, a securities broker, and Susan, Associate Dean Emeritus of Curriculum at the Medical College of Georgia.