Mourners Bid Farewell to Beloved Congressman

Mourners gathered Wednesday at the Metropolitan Baptist Church to pay their respects to Donald M. Payne Sr., the longtime congressman who died last week after serving more than two decades in Washington.

A who's-who of the state's political elite lined up alongside ordinary citizens whose lives were touched by Payne, best remembered for his work on social justice issues domestically and for sponsoring legislation to aid developing nations. Members of the South Sudanese delegation to the United Nations were among the hundreds of mourners attending Payne's funeral in Newark Wednesday morning.

Payne, who became New Jersey's first African-American member of Congress when he was elected in 1988, was fondly recalled by ordinary citizens of Newark, the city where Payne was raised.

"He's always been active in the community....I would say he was a great person," said Roncia Hutchinson, a Newark native. "When you saw him he would make himself available to you."

"He was very well respected," said Dorothy Mitchells, who lives near Metropolitan Baptist Church and was watching funeralgoers enter the church with her husband Wednesday. "I like the fact that he was for everyone."

Mitchells said she watched the procession Tuesday afternoon when Payne's casket was transported from the Historic Essex County Courthouse to the Springfield Avenue church and said the event was "very moving, very dignified."

Payne was also remembered as being one of the last members of an old guard of African-American politicians who seized the reigns of power following the riots that burned through Newark in 1967.

"The state and the federal governments really didn't want to help us" following the disturbances, said state Sen. Ron Rice (D-28), a former colleague of Payne's when he served on the Newark Municipal Council who knew Payne for more than four decades. 

Motioning to the area around Springfield Avenue as he stood outside the church Wednesday, Rice credited Payne with helping lead the city's turnaround.

Payne's death is "a tremendous loss," Rice added.

"He was as comfortable at his headquarters on Bergen Street as he was in Rwanda," said former Newark Mayor Sharpe James, "and we loved him for that."

Funeral attendees also included Newark leaders like poet Amiri Baraka and members of the Newark municipal council. Gov. Chris Christie, who was also in attendance, ordered flags at all state buildings to be flown at half-staff Wednesday in honor of Payne.

The occassion was "very sad. He was a very good man," said prominent activist the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Payne will be buried in Bloomfield.