Tommy Orville Ira Payton's Obituary
Tom Payton was born in Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma on January 13, 1944 to Maggie Margaret Havron Payton and Thomas Payton. Tom was interested in and studied about the world’s religions and cultures from a teenager and on until his death. Tom was introduced to the Church of Christ when he started dating Patsy Vaughan in high school. The first year of their marriage Tom began studying with a minister in Weatherford, Oklahoma and was baptized. From that point he became a true scholar of the Word. Tom always knew that through God’s grace and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ he would someday be blessed to meet his Lord in Heaven and be able to ask all the questions he wanted about the biology, astronomy, and creation of the universe. Tom went to meet his Lord and started asking those questions on April 19, 2019.For the first few years of his life he played on the grounds of the mental hospital where both his mother and father worked in the wards with patients. Perhaps watching his parents interact with patients created an intuitiveness into the psyche of people. At age five, he moved with his parents to Norman, Oklahoma where he graduated in 1963 from Norman High School. He married Patsy in 1964 and he graduated with a double bachelor’s degree in Natural Science and Psychology from Northwestern State University, Alva Oklahoma, in 1968.After teaching chemistry and physics in the Moore, Oklahoma School District, Tom decided to pursue his Master’s degree at University of North Texas. After doing his internship at the now closed Beverly Hills Psychiatric Hospital in Dallas, Texas, he began his psychology career as chief psychologist. After six years on staff he began his private practice in Dallas. For forty seven years Tom counseled in individual, group, and hypnosis therapy.Tom’s desire for learning led him to work toward a doctorate degree every summer in Europe for several years. He finished ABD. He studied with some of the well-known experts in the field of psychology: Professors from the University of Munich, Japan, Albert Einstein Medical School of New York. Anna Freud, the daughter of Sigmund Freud, Goldenson, Jean Piaget and Erica Fromm. Tom finished his doctorate at the University of North Texas.Tom and Pat would have been married fifty-five years in June. Tom was survived by his two children: Tracy Lynn Watson and husband Tom with their children Taylor and Thomas and Christopher Payton and wife Lori with their children Noah and Gianna. His extended family of nieces, nephews, and cousins; acquired family Dalia and Kyle Cravener, Tom, Karen, Scott, Teena, Noah, and Carly Watson.Visitation for Mr. Payton will be held Monday, April 22, 2019, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Restland Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be held Tuesday, April 23, 2019, at 11:00 AM at Prestoncrest Church of Christ.Funeral arrangements for Tommy Orville Ira Payton have been faithfully entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Cemetery, which is located at 13005 Greenville Ave., at the intersection of Restland Road, Dallas, Texas 75243, and can be reached at (972) 238-7111.
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