of La Palma, CA

June 24, 1927 - May 23, 2022

Devoted to her family and community, Lula A. Payne died at her home in La Palma, California, on May 23, 2022. She was 95.

With deep roots and strong ties to family and friends in both California and Arkansas, Lula was optimistic, outgoing, and gregarious. Her holiday mailbox was flooded with cards and notes, her phone rang constantly, and her refrigerator door was full of photos of her family, her extended family, and friends.

Born in rural Glasgow, Kentucky, in 1927, Lula Althea Matthews grew up at the height of the depression in rural Kentucky, one of eight children. In the late 1930's her family crossed the country, settling in Venice, California, where her family found work in the state's growing defense industry. After attending Venice High School, she worked at Vons grocery store and later at Edgemar Dairy in Santa Monica. She met her husband, D.L. "Duck" Payne in 1945, when his ship, the USS Marshall, was docked and being repaired after major battles in the Pacific.

She began her married life in Damascus, Arkansas, her husband's hometown, where two of their children, Barbara Lynn and James Michael, were born. Shortly after their daughter's birth, D.L. lost his left arm in an auto accident, and their lives together became even more deeply intertwined. In 1951 Lula and her family moved back to Venice, where her children were raised and her daughter Kathy Louise was born.

In 1968, with their older two children grown, they relocated to La Palma, Calif., where Lula lived for 54 years. She was a neighborhood fixture and someone who loved to "visit". As a playground supervisor at Steve Luther Elementary School she forged close connections with many students that lasted into their adulthood.

She and her children visited Arkansas annually, maintaining deep connections with generations of Paynes; they eventually built a second home there, where their children and grandchildren spent summers riding tractors, bottle feeding calves, and playing in the local creeks.

Lula's husband of 55 years, D.L. Payne, passed away in 2001. She is survived by their three children, Barbara (Gary Aerni), Michael (Denise) and Kathy (Donald Brooks); eight grandchildren, Kristin (John Blais, Sr.), Shannon (William Mahoney III), Jasmine (David Willhoite), Alexis, Matthew, Tyson (Lynn), Connor, and Spencer (Becca); and seven great-grandchildren, Aislyn and Madison Mahoney, John Blais, Jr., Henry and Alexandra Willhoite, and Mackenzie and Theodore Busch.

Funeral services will be at 1:00pm, Thursday, June 2, 2022, at First Baptist Church in Damascus, Arkansas. Burial will follow at Spires Cemetery.

Online guest book: www.rollerfuneralhomes.com/greenbrier

Obituary Provided By:
Roller-McNutt Funeral Home
115 South Broadview
Greenbrier, AR  72058
www.rollerfuneralhomes.com