Rolene Fletcher Payne went to be with the Lord the morning of Jan. 30, 2016, at her home in Myrtle Point, Ore. She was a young 78 years.

She is survived by her husband Richard; two daughters, Kate and Heidi Alexa of Myrtle Point; her son Bruce, his wife Kim and their children, Fletcher and Andrew of Coos Bay, Ore. She is also survived by her sister Ruth Fletcher-Carter of Berthoud Colo.; her brother Rolland Fletcher and his wife Jennifer of Salinas Calif.; and their daughter Sabrina and granddaughter Lila of Tepoztlan, Morales, Mexico.

Rolene was preceded in death by her father, Rolland Fletcher, Sr. and her mother, Vera Pemberton Fletcher.

Rolene was born in Parsons, Kan., on Dec. 10, 1937. Her father, Rolland, was a newspaper man so the family lived in several cities during her childhood; such as Branson Mo., Chicago, Ill., Akron, Ohio, Eugene Ore., Colorado Springs, Colo., and finally Berthoud., where her parents owned and published the Berthoud Bulletin from 1952 until 1968. Rolene became a linotype operator.

Rolene attended Berthoud High School and graduated in 1955. She was a member of the Berthoud Flapjack Day’s Court in 1954. Following high school graduation, she attended Colorado State College of Education (now the University of Northern Colorado) and received her Bachelors of Science in Education in 1959. It was in a CSCE biology lab she met Richard Payne whom she was to marry in June of 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church of Berthoud.

The newly married couple moved to Dalton, Neb., where Richard taught school and their first daughter, Kate, was born. The following year they moved to Jeffry City, Wyo. In 1962 they relocated to Myrtle Point, Ore., where they settled down, welcoming another daughter, Heidi Alexa and a son, Bruce. After moving to Myrtle Point, Rolene and Richard took in foster children.

Rolene taught school in Nebraska and Wyoming and continued teaching whenever she got the chance, whether it was piano, guitar, American Sign Language, Hebrew or traditional elementary classes. She was a Sunday school teacher, Camp Fire Girls leader, taught sewing for 4H and assisted at the public kindergarten. The Christian Evangelistic Fellowship, an after-school Bible study for children, was very important to her. For 20 years she was head supervisor at the Myrtle Point Christian School, then moved it to her home for seven more years. Her last position was supervisor at the Trinity Christian School.

Recently she was an active member of the Freedom Fellowship Church of the Nazarene, QB Quilters, and the Coos Sand n’ Sea Quilt Guild. She volunteered at the Myrtle Point Senior Center, the Myrtle Point Care Center, the Nazarene Church Soup n’ Sandwiches program, and was an elected official of the Myrtle Point Health Board. The Coos County Fair Needlework Department never ran smoother than when Rolene was in charge for 10 years. Many of her own entries won ribbons and best of department.

Rolene was a devoted ice hockey fan. She loved to read sci-fi and fantasy novels, listen to classical music, study the Bible, quilt, and travel around this great country of ours. She and her daughter Alexa visited the Butchart Gardens, Las Vegas, Nev., Washington D.C., Virginia and Montana. If she had a choice as to a mode of travel, she chose the train. She and her husband Richard took a train excursion to Chicago and Colorado for their 50^th wedding anniversary.

The most important thing to Rolene, however, was taking care of her family.

Services were held Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016, at the Methodist Church, Valley Christian Center, 448 Maple St., in Myrtle Point, Ore.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations in Rolene’s name to be sent to the Myrtle Point Ambulance Services for new heart monitors. Donations should be sent to:

Myrtle Point Ambulances
c/o Heart Monitor Fund
424 5^th St
Myrtle Point, OR 97458