“Donald Payne didn’t seek glory – so it’s up to us to tell his story.” U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn).
Public officials, politicians, family, friends and constituents paused to pay tribute to Cong. Donald Milton Payne, Jr. here at the old county courthouse and the Sacred Heart Basilica here May 1-2.
Payne – 65, who died here April 24 from a heart attack complicated by diabetes and high blood pressure – was eulogized as a dedicated public servant who was humble except in fashion during his May 2 Funeral Mass at the Basilica. The service ran three hours before a sanctuary filled with mourners.
Some of the baker’s dozen of public speakers came from Capitol Hill – Jeffries, retired House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Sen. Cory A. Booker (D-Newark.)
Jeffries recalled that Payne did not like to publicly speak for more than a minute. “He told me, ‘Hakeem, I’m going to be the Michael Jordan of one-minute speeches on the House Floor.’ And that’s exactly what he did.”
Pelosi remembered how sharply and colorfully dressed the second-generation Congressman was, down to his matching tie, handkerchief, and socks.
“He put us all to shame,” said Pelosi before adding, “Donald Payne was a blessing to the U.S. Congress. And he was a blessing to all of us who had the blessing to call him a colleague.”
Booker recalled the time Payne walked into his office unannounced while both first-term Congressmen were digging into the federal budget. Payne, said Booker, told him to step away from the spreadsheet and desk and to kneel with him in prayer.
“At a time when I was not feeling great about myself, he looked at me and said, ‘I’m proud of you.’ Then he said, ‘Something told me you need to hear this: Man, I love you.’ “
Gov. Phil Murphy (D-Rumson) recalled the Payne family’s legacy of public service. Payne, Jr., who started campaigning in the South Ward as a teenager, followed his pioneering father’s footsteps as an Essex County now-Commissioner and Newark Councilman. Uncle William was a state assemblyman.
“For more than half a century, the Payne family has given more to our Great Garden State than can be adequately captured in words,” said Murphy. “It’s a family name that signifies a legacy of public service, selflessness and integrity.”
Payne, who succeeded his father after he died in office in 2012, was a ranking member on the House’s Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee. He was instrumental in obtaining funding for the $15 billion Gateway trans-Hudson railroad tunnel project.
Payne sponsored several health-related bills on colon cancer detection, clean drinking water and lead testing. On the House floor, he advocated for price reductions on diabetes treatment medication and securing voting rights.
Some of Payne’s causes were personal. He sought for more colon screening in his father’s memory. He advocated for cheaper diabetes medication while wearing a boot on left leg- a legacy of his own treatment.
Mayor Ras Baraka asked the mourners for a moment of silence to remember Payne.
“I want you to hold your head out, your chest out and your shoulders back just today for Cong. Payne’s sake and try to make some sense of all of this,” said Baraka, “us losing Rice and Sheila and Payne, Jr.”
Many of the basilica’s mourners and those paying respects at the historic courthouse the day before were also there for Lt. Governor Sheila Y. Oliver, who died nine months before. Longtime Assemblyman and Councilman Ronald L. Rice had also died last year.
“Local Talk” recalls accounts of when Ras and father Amiri Baraka visited the Paynes when Payne’s father was lying in state in the courthouse – and when Payne, Jr., paid respects to Ras on Amiri’s death.
Both Paynes and Oliver are the only ones to lie in the Historic Court House rotunda to date. Don, Jr.’s viewing there was from Noon-Midnight that Wednesday.
Jack Payne, who wore an orange bow tie similar to his late fathers, recalled that there was no name dropping inside or outside the three-generation household. Sons Jack and Donald III, daughter Yvonne, wife Beatrice, uncle William, cousins Eric Payne and Craig Stanley.
