OBITUARY
Gary Lee
Jocelyn Lee Payne Supply, Offered
Dr. Jocelyn Lee Payne was an inspiring and impactful scholar and chief in greater training in Oklahoma, a fierce advocate for social and racial justice and a caring mentor to a number of generations of Oklahomans, significantly ladies. Jocelyn embodied the ideas of Black Excellence lengthy earlier than the time period turned widespread and impressed anybody who got here into her orbit to achieve for the celebrities in no matter area they selected.
After dealing with with braveness and beauty the challenges ensuing from a 2020 prognosis of Parkinson’s, Jocelyn handed away on April 21, surrounded by the love of her household and mates.
Within the early Nineties, Jocelyn was named vice chairman of pupil affairs at Northeastern State College in Tahlequah, Okla. That promotion made her one of many first Black ladies to serve in a senior position in a significant establishment of upper training in Oklahoma. In 2014, Jocelyn was appointed the primary full-time govt director of The John Hope Franklin Middle for Racial Conciliation in Tulsa. She used the position to encourage Tulsans of all races to bridge the gaps which have divided them for many years.
Jocelyn, an solely youngster, was additionally tirelessly dedicated to her mother and father, Johnson and Effie Jewell Lee. She was an interesting ally to a close-knit group of friends, and lifelong mates. She was a caring member of the family to a motley group of aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews in Oklahoma, Texas and elsewhere. She was additionally a doting godmother to her two godchildren.
Jocelyn’s religion was a key pillar of her life. In her early years, she and her household had been members of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, a small, traditionally Black place of worship on North Peoria Avenue in Tulsa. Within the late Nineteen Sixties, when the church merged with St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, a principally white establishment, to turn out to be St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, she enthusiastically joined the brand new, blended church household.
Jocelyn, who grew up in Jim Crowe period Tulsa, maneuvered previous the confines that segregation imposed.
Jocelyn Lee was born July 13, 1949, to Johnson and Effie Jewell Lee, educators who had been stalwart members of the north Tulsa group. Jocelyn was their solely youngster and the couple directly offered an idyllic life for her and inspired her to embrace books and studying. With their help, coupled with the nurturing of a village of mentors, and her eager curiosity in studying, Jocelyn was all the time at or close to the highest of her class.
From her main college years as a pupil at Ralph Bunche Elementary Faculty in north Tulsa, Jocelyn displayed a present for studying and writing. As a 12-year-old seventh grader at Marian Anderson Junior Excessive Faculty, she turned the primary Black winner within the 25-year historical past of the Oklahoma Spelling Bee Championship and took part within the nationwide spelling bee championship in Washington, D.C.
It was at Anderson that Jocelyn and 7 of her mates fashioned the Nice Eight, a bunch of classmates who pledged that they’d excel in each college topic they undertook regardless of the stigmas of Tulsa’s segregated college system. Members of the unique group had been Sharman Stevenson, Mildred Wright, DeLois Dyer, Jocelyn Lee, Yla Eason, Ava Bell, Mary Dickson, and Debra Mitchell. Later Patricia Brown and Angela Busby joined, making the group The Nice Eight Plus Two. Giving each other camaraderie, encouragement, and inspiration, the group has stayed collectively over many years. The group misplaced some members however held sturdy as a second household to Jocelyn and the others.
From Anderson, Jocelyn studied at Booker T. Washington Excessive Faculty. Specifically, she excelled in literature courses and graduated within the BTW Class of 1967.
In 1967, Jocelyn entered the College of Oklahoma as a freshman and have become an honors pupil. In 1969, she transferred to Brandeis College in Waltham, Mass., one of many top-ranked New England universities and graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
In 1979, Jocelyn married George Payne. The wedding ended years later in divorce.
In 1982, Jocelyn joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Included, the primary high sorority within the U.S. for Black ladies. As an AKA member, she engaged in mentoring, the camaraderie of her friends, and help for training and the humanities.
Within the early Nineteen Eighties, she turned director of economic help at Northeastern State College in Tahlequah. That transfer set Jocelyn on a tour of management at NSU that spanned twenty years and included positions as an administrator, professor and highlighted by her tenure as vice chairman. Her former college students and colleagues recall Joceyln’s book-lined workplace on the NSU campus as a haven of help and nurturing the place Jocelyn guided them by the typically robust academic journeys and into careers.
As Jocelyn’s profession superior, she continued to pursue her personal training. She acquired a Grasp of Science in School Instructing – Scholar Providers from Northeastern State College and a Doctorate in Greater Training/Greater Training Administration from Oklahoma State College.
Within the early 2000s, Jocelyn moved into her household residence in north Tulsa to assist take care of her father, and later, her mom.
In 2014, Jocelyn turned head of the John Hope Franklin Middle for Reconciliation, an establishment fashioned to strengthen the racial fracturing in Tulsa that resulted from the 1921 Tulsa Race Bloodbath. She used the place to push Tulsans to know that racial therapeutic may solely be achieved by dealing with usually troublesome truths. Jocelyn organized semi-annual dinners on the heart that featured Pulitzer Prize profitable creator Isabelle Wilkerson and different nationally identified figures.
The place additionally lifted Jocelyn’s presence as an advocate for social justice, significantly for individuals of shade in Tulsa and throughout Oklahoma. In 2014, the Tulsa World named her one of many High Ten Tulsans To Watch.
Jocelyn left her place at JHF Middle in 2016 and joined the boards of the Phillips Theological Middle, The Middle for Residing Arts, and The Dan Allen Middle for Social Justice.
All through her life, Jocelyn adopted her twin passions for studying and culinary explorations. She appreciated few issues higher than a fantastic e-book and sometimes shared her favourite works with others and engaged in vigorous dialogue about them.
Jocelyn’s father nurtured in her a love of meals. Throughout her adolescent years, the 2 collaborated within the kitchen, usually impressed by recipes from Good Housekeeping journal. Later, Jocelyn loved eating out round Tulsa.
Jocelyn was a caring member of the family to a close-knit group of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews in Oklahoma, Texas, and past. She was additionally a faithful pal and an interesting presence amongst her friends.
Among the many many who supported Jocelyn, Myrtle “Tiny” Baker and Alisa Bell held a very particular place in her life. Their shut friendship was characterised by unwavering help and deep compassion, which offered invaluable consolation to Jocelyn and her household all through her well being challenges.
She was predeceased by her beloved mother and father, Johnson and Effie Jewell Lee. She will probably be remembered fondly by her aunt Elreatha Lee, many cousins, godchildren, and a circle of devoted mates.
The funeral providers for Jocelyn Lee Payne are scheduled for April 28, 11 a.m., at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, 4045 N. Cincinnati Drive , Tulsa, Okla.
In Joceyln Lee Payne’s reminiscence, contributions could also be made to J.A.M.E.S. Inc., a Tulsa nonprofit devoted to anticipating or mum or dad adolescents or to a charitable Parkinson’s Basis.
