Eugene Payne Washburne

Eugene Payne Washburne was born in Farmerville, LA on September 20,1948 to Jack Nathaniel Washburne and Helen Deneal Washburne. He had a happy childhood and was active in sports, Boy Scouts, and helped out in his Dad’s store. He played drums in a band, and he even, along with his best friend Roy Hammett, had a locally famous death-defying escape from an alligator who ate their boat one afternoon on the Bayou Mason. He and Roy cruising through town in a miniature model-T became a familiar sight.

He met Kay in the spring semester of their freshman year and after dating for two years, they married on August 29, 1969. After graduating from Northeast Lousiana University, he developed his sales skills selling cars in Monroe. He next went to work for the Boy Scouts of America and he and Kay moved to Shreveport. They attended Summer Grove Baptist Church and Eugene gave his life to Jesus at a revival the church held. He went to work a few years later for Beecham Laboratories as a pharmaceutical salesman. He was the leading salesperson in the company for several of their products for five consecutive years and he was rewarded with a promotion to district manager. For seven consecutive years as a district manager, he had more President Club sales representatives than any other district manager in the company for which he was promoted to regional manager. As regional manager, he developed the company’s hospital division and eventually became the executive vice president with responsibility for the company’s entire North American Market. At every stop along the way, Eugene dramatically improved the performance and efficiency of each division for which he was responsible and closed out his career and semi-retirement doing consulting for various companies and marketing agencies.

Eugene is survived by his wife Carolyn Kay Washburne and two sons, Eugene Payne Washburne, Jr of Chillicothe, MO and his wife, Candace, Stephen Lee Washburne of Katy, TX and his wife Marissa, and four grandchildren, Caleb Neely Washburne of Virginia Beach, VA and his wife Cassie, Corey Dain Washburne of Liberty, MO, Elanor Arwen Washburne of Chillicothe, MO and Kieran Thomas Washburne of Katy, TX. Eugene is also survived by his brother Jack Nathaniel Washburne, Jr of Tuscaloosa, AL and his wife Sue. Eugene was preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Helen Washburne and his brother, Willard Frederick Washburne.

He loved golfing and fishing and won many golfing and fishing tournaments. He traveled extensively with Kay and his children and grandchildren. Once they were born, his main delight was spending time with his grandchildren, who he adored. He was active throughout his life in Southern Baptist churches, serving as an ordained deacon and in many other capacities. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, Gulf Coast Finders (an International Harvester Scout Restoration group) and was busy restoring a Scout at the time of his passing.