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Father Arthur J. Payne, O.P., a former pastor of Holy Innocents parish in Pleasantville, died July 24 at Mohun Health Care Center in Columbus, Ohio. He was 77.
He was assigned to Holy Innocents in 1994 and was appointed pastor and superior of the Dominican community there in 2001. He served for three years until stepping aside for health reasons.
Over the course of his priesthood, Father Payne served in parish, retreat and formation ministries. He was assistant novice master for his community, 1966-1968; vocations director, 1972-1978; and student master, 1978-1982. He also served on the preaching band of the province and was a sought-after retreat director and mission preacher. He served in Dover, Mass., and Louisville, Ky., as well as in Pleasantville.
Born in Hartford, Conn., he entered the Dominicans’ Province of St. Joseph in Somerset, Ohio, in 1956 after graduating from Providence College in Rhode Island. He professed first vows in 1957, and he was ordained in 1963 after studying at St. Stephen Priory in Dover, Mass., and the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. He earned a doctorate of ministry degree from Wesley Seminary in Washington.
He is survived by a brother, Robert.
A Funeral Mass will be offered Thursday, July 28, at 10 a.m. at Holy Innocents Church, with burial in the Dominican plot in All Souls Cemetery in Pleasantville.
