Doris M. Payne

Doris Mae Payne, 94, passed away on September 5, 2025 at Brewster Place in Topeka. She was born October 22, 1930, in Topeka, Kansas to her parents Lida Everett Kendall and Josephine Rosa Alice Beers Kendall. She grew up in Topeka with her parents and two older sisters, attending Quincy Elementary School and Curtis Junior High School. She graduated from Topeka High School with honors in 1948. While in high school, she played the cello in the orchestra and was heavily involved in music.

After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Kansas and KU Medical Center and graduated with a BS Degree in Nursing in May 1954. While at KU, Doris lived in Miller Hall where she made many lifelong friends and enjoyed college life. She met the love of her life, Robert (Bob) Roy Payne in September 1950 at the Dine-A-Mite Inn, a popular restaurant and dance hall at 23rd & Louisiana streets in Lawrence. They both loved to dance; they danced the night they met, attended many dances at Miller Hall together, and danced at every opportunity throughout their married life.

Doris married Bob on January 16, 1954 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Topeka. She worked at KU Medical Center until she accompanied Bob to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she was an intern at the Milwaukee County General Hospital. While there, she worked in pediatrics and urology, and she also cared for a polio patient with an iron lung.

While Bob was in the Navy and out in the Mediterranean Sea, Doris worked at Stormont-Vail and Santa Fe hospitals in Topeka. When Bob took a family practice position in Sacramento, California, she worked in the obstetrics department at a private hospital in Sacramento. She gave birth to her first son, Kendall Robert on March 10, 1960. In July 1960, the family moved to Craig, Colorado, where Bob was in family practice with his good friend David Thurston. Her second son, Paul Andrew was born in Craig on October 18, 1961.

In December 1963, the family moved to Overland Park, Kansas when Bob started his orthopedic residency. After completing his residency in orthopedics in December, 1966, the family moved to Topeka. On February 7, 1967, Doris gave birth to her daughter, Ellen Elizabeth, at St. Mary’s hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.

In Topeka, Doris was active in a variety of clubs, such as a local P.E.O. chapter, the Women’s Auxiliary, Western Sorosis, and the West Hills Garden Club. She enjoyed bowling and bowled in a women’s league for many years. Her love of music continued throughout her life. Doris and Bob attended the symphony at Washburn University, as well as many musical performances at the Topeka Performing Arts Center and the Lied Center in Lawrence. Doris also enjoyed spending time with extended family and frequently hosted family gatherings at her home. She loved to travel and went on many trips with family and friends throughout the US, Canada, and Europe.

Doris gave her all for her community and family, supporting her children in all their endeavors. She volunteered at their elementary, junior high, and high schools. She drove her children to scout meetings, music lessons, sports practices, and concert rehearsals. She and Bob were faithful attendees of their children’s basketball and volleyball games, track & field and cross country meets, band concerts, music recitals and competitions, and theatrical performances. Doris hosted birthday parties, sewed costumes, baked treats for classroom celebrations, and attended parent-teacher conferences and PTA meetings. Doris created a wonderful home for her family.

She was a loyal Kansas Jayhawks fan and regularly attended KU home football games for 40 years and home basketball games for 30 years. She also often attended the KU Relays, rain or shine, with her family.

Doris was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Robert Roy Payne; her son, Paul Andrew Payne; her sister Margaret Eleanor Swalwell and brother-in-law James Earl Swalwell; her sister Johann (Jo) Louise Doles and brother-in-law Elmer Jackson (Jack) Doles.

She is survived by her son Kendall Robert Payne and his wife Lisa of Coffeyville, Kansas, her daughter Ellen Elizabeth Jensen and her husband Jeff of Lawrence, and her grandson Ryan Martin Payne and his wife Casey of Leland, North Carolina, as well as several nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held Friday, September 26 at 1pm at Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home, 1321 SW 10th Ave., in Topeka. The service will be live streamed, and will  begin 15 minutes before service time. To view the livestream, please visit the link here: Doris M. Payne Livestream Service

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to First Congregational Church, 1701 SW Collins Ave., Topeka, KS 66604, or Brewster Place, 1205 SW 29th St., Topeka, KS 66611.

To give condolences to the family, or share a special memory, please visit the guest book below.