Grady Edward (Us Army Ret) Payne

Grady Edward "Ed" Payne (US Army RET), a resident of Hartford, Alabama passed away on Sunday, March 17, 2019 at a local hospital. He was 74. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 11 am in Sunset Funeral Home Chapel. Burial with Military Honors will follow in Sunset Memorial Park with Sunset Funeral Home directing. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 10-11 am prior to the service. Ed was born on September 2, 1944 in Dublin, GA. He enlisted in the US Army in September 1961 and left active duty in November 1984. Ed spent 4 years in Vietnam on three separate tours as a door gunner on OH-23s, UH-1s and UH-1a's which in layman terms are all helicopters. He flew more that 3000 hours of combat missions. He was stationed in Illinois, Maryland, Oklahoma and Germany. After the military, he worked at DynCorp, Sikorsky, and Flight Safety as an air traffic controller. Ed was preceded in death by his parents, Horace and Nora Payne; a brother, Dennis Payne; a sister, Sarah Johnson; and a special cousin, Jimmy Payne. Survivors include his wife, Connie Payne; daughter, Angela Payne Martinez (Richard Simpkin); step-children, Laura West, Samantha Brown, Kristie Seay, and Jessica Jacobson; grandchildren, Matthew Martinez and Hannah Martinez and 13 additional grandchildren; a sister, Joann Payne; his life long friend, Robert "Bone" Taylor; and Curt, his chosen father figure. Burial Date March 20, 2019 Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 11 am in Sunset Funeral Home Chapel. Burial with Military Honors will follow in Sunset Memorial Park with Sunset Funeral Home directing. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 10-11 am prior to the service.