Katherine and Joe Payne

He sat behind her in the third grade at the old Peakland Elementary School next to Virginia Baptist Hospital in Lynchburg where they were both born and would later work. They started dating as juniors at E.C. Glass High School and married in 1969, while Joe was in the Navy. Two children, four grandchildren and 51 anniversaries later, they have moved to Westminster Canterbury. Meet Katherine (nee Platt) and Joe Payne, Lynchburg natives whose mothers and other close relatives have also made Westminster Canterbury their home.

Following high school, Katherine graduated from Hollins College with a BS in Biology and earned her certification at UVA Medical School as a Medical Technologist. Following a short stint working in the lab at Rhode Island Hospital while Joe was stationed at Quonset Point Naval Air Station, she began a 41-year career in the lab and blood bank at Virginia Baptist Hospital. At retirement, she was Blood Bank Clinical Coordinator for Centra Health. Over the years, Katherine volunteered with the Junior League and the Free Clinic. She enjoys gardening, reading, traveling and, in particular, her children and grandchildren. She is a member of Oakwood Garden Club and attends St. John’s Episcopal Church.

Following two years at Frederick College, Joe volunteered for the United States Navy during the time of the Viet Nam conflict and was assigned to Commander Carrier Division Twenty, an anti-submarine warfare group based out of Quonset Point NAS, Rhode Island. First on the carrier Essex, later on the carrier Intrepid, Joe’s unit conducted anti-submarine exercises in the north Atlantic. Following his honorable discharge from active duty, Joe and Katherine moved back to Lynchburg just in time for the birth of their first daughter.

After graduating from Lynchburg College in 1972 with a BA in Business Management and Marketing, Joe went to work as a real estate broker for his father’s firm, Snead-Payne & McCausland, Inc. In 1984, he joined Virginia Baptist Hospital’s Mental Health Services Division. Following the merger of both hospitals into Centra Health, he became Marketing Manager for Centra Health. Joe first became an employee of Westminster Canterbury in 1999 and retired in 2015. Over the years, Joe has completed graduate work at UVA, the College of William & Mary, and the Johnson Institute. His interests include cooking, reading, walking, college football, volunteering and traveling. He attends St. John’s Episcopal Church.

Katherine and Joe have two daughters: Kristin (Rob Puryear) and Susan (Kyle Stokes). Kristin and Rob, who reside in Lake Bluff, IL., north of Chicago, have two daughters: Jessi, a recent Lynchburg College graduate, and Lydia, a junior at the University of South Carolina.  Susan and Kyle, live in Sterling, VA., near Washington, and have two sons: Ethan, a sixth grader and Joe, a sophomore at George Mason University.