Lee Payne

Lee Payne, 63 of Friendswood Texas passed away July 18th, 2026. Lee was born May 13th, 1963 in Landstuhl, Germany to Hildegard and Jerry Payne. He would go on to spend most of his early life bouncing from Clear Lake Shores and Germany. Lee was married to his wife Tammy Payne (formerly Kaatz) for 43 years. Lee was a proud Desert Storm veteran having served his country for 17 years in the US Army before having a medical retirement due to several battles with Hodgkins Lymphoma. Lee also worked at Target upon moving to Friendswood for 15 years before retiring completely. Lee loved to watch true crime, watch horror movies, collect stamps, build models, listen to music, hang out with his dog and son and work with his snake collection.

Lee is preceded in death by Jaunita Flurry (grandmother), Rudolph Kaatz (father-in-law), Virginia Kaatz (mother-in-law), Rusty Kaatz (brother-in-law), along with various extended family members in both Germany and Texas.

Lee is survived by his wife Tammy, his son Ryan, his mother Hildegard, his brothers Gene and Brian, his sisters-in-law Corrine Starke, Shonda Payne, Darlene Kaatz and Jannine Deckard, his brothers-in-law, Bill Starke and Randy Deckard. He is also survived by his many nieces and nephews such as, Cheyenne Armstrong, Autumn Payne, Alicia Armstrong, Earl Armstrong, Cathrine Armstrong, Karl Kaatz, Andrew Kaatz, Scott Pennt along with too many to list here.

Lee is also survived by his friend James Janoch and all of his ‘adopted kids’ that his son would bring home.

He was loved dearly and he will be missed.