Arthur D. Payton

The son of Arthur D. Payton and Margaret (Knoth) Payton, Arthur grew up in Chicago. He had a paper route and took accordian lessons. At age 15 he was giving accordian lessons. His lifelong interest n chemistry began at Illinois Institute of Technology. His wife Mary went to Chicago with him in the 1970's and they always went to see his Professor Neubert. Arthur went east to New Haven and Yale where he kept in contact with Professor Lyons. After Yale Arthur began his exciting adventure of traveling to and from Europe on the ships Liberte and the Brennen. He did post-doctorate work at one of Cambridge's oldest colleges: Trinity in England. He then did further experiments at Physikalisch-Chemisches in Munich, Germany. While there, Willamette University President G. Herbert Smith telephoned and asked Arthur to come teach freshman chemistry. He taught until his Multiple Sclerosis began to exhaust him physically. He continued to do research primarily in thermodynamics and taught four other upper-level courses. Articles were published that always were co-authored by students and research assistants. Arthur did not retire until he absolutely had to because of his interest in Willamette's wonderful events and people he had contact with during his 45 year career. Over 30 of those years he was limited because of his wheelchair, yet his goal of "keeping on" was also a good lesson to others. This past year had been increasingly frustrating because he could no longer lift a glass, use the computer, or drive his chair. He was blessed to have several good caregivers. His primary caregiver was Picksey Gray--a God-send! She lovingly cared for him for many years. There will be a memorial service for Arthur at Willamette University in beautiful Cone Chapel in September 2010. Art is resting by his parents in Forest Home Cemetery, Chicago. He had a wonderful sense of humor and one of his activities was memorizing Pi. He would have his wife Mary look at the paper while he recited pi and said "Have to keep those grey cells going." Arthur was Mary's best friend and husband of 36 years. A fine gentleman is now gone.