By NANCY RUMP
Staff Writer

WOODBINE - A trooper remembered as a devoted friend and an extraordinary member of the New Jersey State Police is being mourned this week in the greater South Jersey area.

Sgt. Dwight Payne, 40, passed away suddenly Sunday afternoon at Shore Memorial Hospital after a brief illness. He was a Cape May Court House resident.

Payne served the State Police most recently as a valued member of the Woodbine station. He was a patrol supervisor and the station’s media coordinator. The latter duties were initiated by the sergeant himself after proposing to State Police headquarters in Trenton that an official media liaison be established for the barracks.

Sgt. Stephen Jones recalled the memo received at the State Police public information office where Payne suggested creating the position and enthusiastically wrote he would volunteer for the duty.

“He really wanted to do it,” said Jones. “He wrote that he had unofficially performed in a similar capacity at the Bass River station before transferring to Woodbine and developed a good rapport with a number of reporters and members of the media.”

The assignment was green-lighted by headquarters and Payne quickly began disseminating press releases for his media colleagues on newsworthy events. He also made himself readily available to field questions and often emphasized to reporters that he could be quoted directly in stories, sometimes adding with a chuckle that he knew it was better journalism to attribute a quote to a person rather than an entity like, “police said.”

In addition to assisting the media, Payne also served as the community liaison to the three Cape May County towns patrolled by the Woodbine barracks. He was a regular attendee at municipal meetings in Upper and Dennis townships and the Woodbine borough.

He provided reports on the station’s activity in each area and often peppered his presentations with humor and anecdotes.

In Upper Township, committee members would extend an invitation and open the floor to Payne to speak at the top of each meeting. He would always begin by addressing Mayor Rich Palombo as “your honor,” the township solicitor as “counselor” and others in attendance as “esteemed members of the committee and the public.”

During one of Payne’s reports, Palombo interjected and amusingly noted that during a particular week many speeding tickets were issued on a Wednesday.

“Are you telling me it’s a bad idea to speed in this township on a Wednesday?” Palombo joked.

“When I’m working it is,” Payne quipped back.

The exchange made the room erupt in laughter, one of the many occasions officials remember as Payne “stealing the show” when he took the floor.

Payne was a 14-year veteran of the State Police, beginning his career in April 1995 when he became a trooper. He was a member of the 115th class. His previous assignments included Bridgeton, Port Norris, Bellmawr, the Atlantic City Expressway, tactical patrol unit, field operations in West Trenton headquarters and the Bass River station on the Garden State Parkway. He began working in Woodbine in May of last year.

“Dwight had extraordinary energy and devotion related to anything State Police,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, superintendent. “We are as proud of him as he was of ‘The Outfit,’ and we miss him greatly.”

Payne was a proud alumnus of Rutgers University. He graduated in 1991 with a degree in political science. He regularly attended the Scarlet Knights’ football games and out of uniform could often be seen sporting a Rutgers hat and T-shirt in support of his alma mater. He also held a master’s degree in educational administration and supervision from Seton Hall University.

Because of his polished military bearing, Payne was chosen to represent the State Police as a member of the color guard, used at special ceremonies. He was also a member of the uniform committee and the New Jersey State Troopers’ Eagle Scout Association, as well as an Eagle Scout himself having achieved the Boy Scouts’ highest honor in 1986. In 2004, he appeared in uniform on the cover of Scouting magazine after participating in the New Jersey State Police Camporee.

Retired State Police Lt. Mike Parmenter, the former head of the employee relations unit, organized special details where the color guard was utilized and said Payne went above the call of duty, making himself available for each and every assignment where he was needed.

“He wanted to be at all of them,” Parmenter said. “If he worked a midnight shift before, he would go. He did what he felt was the respectful thing to do and the honorable thing to do. Often times, he was volunteering to go before I even had an opportunity to ask if he could. He was always on top of it. He had a great handle on showing respect.”

Payne represented the State Police well, he said, and was a friend to many, inside and outside of the organization.

“He was always there for so many people,” recalled Parmenter. “He liked to be of service any way he could and help people. He got along with everyone.”

Sgt. Jones echoed those sentiments.

“Everyone was Dwight’s friend and he let them all know that he cared about them in a very genuine way,” he said.

Payne’s colleagues said his most notable trait was the “gift of gab.” Jones said he had the ability to talk about anything.

“And for extended periods of time,” he laughed.

Parmenter said anyone that knew Payne would agree he was a “real talker.”

“Dwight was extremely talkative and knowledgeable about…well…everything,” he said. “He could contribute something to any conversation.”

The duo once took a road trip to Massachusetts and Parmenter said other troopers joked with him beforehand that, “Dwight will chew your ear off.”

“We talked about a lot of things on that trip,” said Parmenter. “It was a memorable experience. We attended a funeral as representatives of the State Police and he came with me afterwards to visit my grandmother.”

He said the two, dressed in uniform, were not immediately recognizable to the 99-year-old.

“Two troopers dressed in uniform caught her a little off guard,” Parmenter said. “She looked at me and didn’t know who I was. She didn’t have all her faculties about her at the time and I had to explain to her what was going on.

“Dwight was so kind to her. He was very compassionate,” he said. “He offered to take a picture of her and I, and I had the photo with me in my office until I retired.”

It was a shared family experience, Parmenter added, and a story he’s shared many times when talking about Payne’s kindness and generosity.

“I felt comfortable having him with me during that visit,” he said. “I don’t know if I was with another trooper I would’ve done the same thing.”

After the trip, Parmenter said Payne offered to get his hat dry cleaned.

“My original State Police hat,” he said. “Twenty-five years and I didn’t know you could even get your hat cleaned…but Dwight did.

“That was him,” he added. “Knew something about everything. He was definitely a character. When you met Dwight Payne, you didn’t forget him.”

Payne is the son of Ida M. (nee Smith) Payne and the late Henry Payne. He leaves to cherish his memory his wife Lynda K. (nee Lee) Payne, his mother Ida M. Payne, brother Major Demetrius H. (Dawn) Payne, sisters Deborah (Stanley) Harris and Thomasa Payne, sister and brother in laws Heather K. (Paul) Lee, Frank Kenneth Lee Jr. and David K. Lee, other relatives and friends.

Services will be held Thursday, March 19 at noon at the Calvary Hill Assembly of God, 535 Mullica Hill Road, in Glassboro. Interment will follow at the Cold Spring Presbyterian Cemetery, 780 Seashore Road, in Cold Spring. A repast is planned afterward at the Town Bank Fire Hall, 224 Town Bank Road, in North Cape May.

Family and friends will be received at the church Thursday from 9 a.m. until noon.

Condolences and written tributes may be sent via the Edwards and Son Funeral Home website at edwardsandsonfuneralhome.com

Nancy Rump can be e-mailed at nrump@catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext. 248.