Bradley "Bill" Payne

Bradley William “Bill” Payne was born “Bradley Leif Payne” in Alhambra, California to Donald Lee and Shirley Lou (Tykeson) Payne September 14, 1958. Donald was a sales representative for Olympia brewing company and was involved in the upstart of Taco Time. Shirley was a homemaker. His dad being a sales representative and former military showed that Bill moved a lot and made many friends along the way. From California, to Walla Walla, to Billings, and eventually ending up in Eugene in adolescence, where he attended Marist High school before joining the navy at age 17. He changed his name to Bradley William, (going by Bill) after his uncle Bill, who he adored and with whom he spent most of his summers. He served as a technician on the USS Kittyhawk.

Following the end of his contract, he met Marilyn Oas, and they married in 1984. They settled in Bend, Oregon where he started his own automotive transmissions’ shop. Together they had a daughter in 1985. Some years later, Bill moved to Albany and started working at Nissen Ford where he met Leisa Gayle Burger. Together they had two more children and they were married in 1997. Bill loved fishing, crabbing, skiing, and boating. Never was there a project he was afraid to start, he was Leisa’s Pit Chief when she raced at the Speedway: occasionally operating the steering wheel himself. He lived for people, his laugh was infectious, and no joke was off limits. He was formidable, resourceful, intelligent, friendly, kind, humorous, and loving. His sister, Kami said, “He never knew a stranger,” and this is evident by the many friends he made along the way. Thank you to those who shared a laugh with him, if there was anything he showed us, it was to look at the humor in all things. His wife, Leisa, survives Bill along with daughters Christina and Jenna, sons Chris, Tyler and Bradley, six grandchildren, sister Kamille, and brother Bruce. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Bradley "Bill" Payne, please visit our floral store.