Donald Milford Payne

A Representative from New Jersey; born in Newark, N.J., July 16, 1934; Barringer High School, Newark, N.J., 1952; B.A., Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J., 1957; teacher; insurance executive; president, Young Men's Christian Association of the United States (YMCA), 1970-1973; member, Essex County, N.J., board of chosen freeholders, 1972-1978; unsuccessful candidate for nomination to the Ninety-seventh Congress in 1980; member of the Newark, N.J., Municipal Council, 1982-1988; chairman, Essex county Democratic committee, 2003-2004; unsuccessful candidate for nomination to the One Hundredth Congress in 1986; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred First and to the eleven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1989-present). Payne was a widower with three children and four grandchildren. His son, Donald Payne Jr., a Newark city councilman, was elected to the US House of Representatives following his father's death.