Necrology

Timothy Charles Payne '71

Mar. 20, 1949-Apr. 29, 2022

Timothy Charles Payne ’71 died on April 29, 2022, in Burr Ridge, Ill. Born on March 20, 1949, in Homer, N.Y., he grew up next door in Cortland and graduated from the Homer Central School. Tim was a wrestler and a New York State scholastic champion. Word of his wrestling accomplishments reached Michigan State University and he was recruited for its collegiate team. When he arrived in East Lansing, however, he learned that Michigan State had recruited three other state champions in his weight class. Although he emerged as the best of the four and became a member of the freshman team, as time passed, Tim became disenchanted with the university since the athletic program precluded his pursuing a substantive academic regimen. He transferred to Hamilton before the start of his sophomore year.

Another of his sports was football, and he went out for Hamilton’s team as a defensive tackle, at which position he was later described as “a very tough guy.” He joined Psi Upsilon fraternity and majored in psychology.

Graduating with honors in his major, Tim toyed with the idea of becoming a minister, applying to several graduate programs in theology. While he may have begun his studies at one of them, he withdrew after a semester. In the words of a classmate, both he and the program concluded that theirs was not “a match made in heaven.” He spent the balance of the year traveling before beginning his medical education at Rush Medical College in Chicago. 

Earning his M.D. in 1977, Tim undertook a series of residencies as he prepared to become an orthopedic surgeon. These took place at Mount Sinai Hospital and Medical Center and Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, both in Chicago.

What would become an almost 40-year career began in 1982 when he joined M&M Orthopedics, a small practice in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove. He had a variety of clinical interests including sports medicine, fitness, men’s health, musculoskeletal therapy, and arthroscopy. The practice grew over the following years. He also began an affiliation with Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in 1982, and he would subsequently become chair of its surgery department and later president of the medical staff. 

In 1986, his skill at arthroscopy came in very handy when the partnership acquired a new patient: the actor Sean Connery, who had come to Chicago as part of the company making the film The Untouchables (1987). Connery was having problems with a swollen knee that was causing him chronic pain. Following an examination on the set of the film, Tim and his colleague, Dr. E. Thomas Marquardt, recommended arthroscopic surgery to treat the torn cartilage and bone spur that were the sources of the actor’s pain. The procedure was a success. While they were on set, the orthopedists were also asked to examine three stunt men and Kevin Costner as well. Apparently, they made no recommendations for further treatment in those cases.

On Jan. 22, 1987, Tim was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and subsequently became a diplomat of that organization.

In 1988, while applying for a home mortgage at a local bank, he met with a loan officer named Helen A. Bonville. One thing led to another, and on Oct. 14, 1989, they were married and later had a daughter and a son. 

Tim maintained close ties with Hamilton. Early on, he was active in the Chicago Alumni Association and served on his class’s 15th reunion gift committee. A regular and increasingly generous donor to the Hamilton Fund, in 1990 he, along with his two brothers, Deming L. ’61 and John A. ’65, established the Payne Family Scholarship intended to provide financial assistance to students preparing for admission to medical school. It is interesting to note that like Tim, Deming and John were also physicians and all three lived within a mile of one another in Hinsdale, Ill. 

A member of a Hamilton family of several generations, Tim was predeceased by his father, Deming, Class of 1926, and twin uncles John and Charles, both also Class of 1926. He is survived by his wife, brothers Deming ’61 and John ’65, and his daughter and son.

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