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Herb and Nancy Payne smile for a photo in a room with a window and a piece of art in the background.

Herb and Nancy Payne were married in 1965 during Herb's last quarter of school at Auburn University.

In many ways, the through line to Herbert and Nancy Payne’s love story is Auburn University.

It’s where the Anniston natives spent their college years in the early 1960s — with Herb studying industrial engineering and Nancy pursuing a degree in education.

It’s where the newlyweds made their first home after marrying in 1965, just months before Herb finished his last quarter of school.

And his Auburn education was the springboard for Herb to advance in his successful industrial engineering career while letting the Paynes build a family with two boys, Patrick and Hunter.

The Paynes’ love story was tragically cut short in 1997 when Herb died suddenly while at work as the director of industrial engineering at Sara Lee Knit Products.

“Herb was still young — only 54 — when he died, and I’ve been missing him ever since,” Nancy said.

Two years after his death, the Payne family and their friends decided to honor Herb and support future engineers with the establishment of the Herbert Knox Payne Jr. Endowed Scholarship in industrial and systems engineering.

For Nancy, the endowment is more than a financial gift; it’s a living memorial to Herb. A Kappa Alpha fraternity member, Herb always reminisced fondly about his time at Auburn — from fraternity events to football games and the lasting friendships he formed.

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Even decades after graduating, he was always proud of the standards of engineering excellence at Auburn and regularly supported the College of Engineering financially.   

“When Herb was in the textile industry, he recruited from universities all over the nation, but he said that none of them ever had graduates as good as Auburn engineers,” Nancy said.

The scholarship offers opportunities for today’s Auburn engineers to attain the kind of career success Herb had while striving to live by the same standards of loyalty and integrity he demonstrated in his life.

“Herb loved engineering. He was so good at it,” Nancy said. “Auburn gave him the skills to succeed in major engineering roles at Burlington Industries and then at Sara Lee.”

Nancy later went on to marry Joe Stanfield, another Auburn engineer and Anniston native, who was widowed from his first wife. A 1967 and 1970 aerospace engineering graduate, Stanfield pursued a career in clinical research and established his own company, Suncare Research Laboratories.

“I joke that I essentially married the same guy twice,” Nancy said. “I've been blessed and honored to be married to two of the best men to ever live.”

Sadly, Stanfield passed away early in 2025. But during his lifetime, he felt called to contribute to Herb’s scholarship fund as well. Nancy also bolstered the endowment in recent years, notably through Qualified Charitable Distributions, a way for IRA owners 70 ½ and older to make tax-efficient donations.

Nearly 30 years after his passing, Herb’s memory still shines bright to this day. For Nancy, the scholarship is a way of preserving his Auburn legacy far into the future.

“I love that Herb’s memory is being honored while creating opportunities for the next generation of Auburn engineers,” she said. “It’s been wonderful meeting some of the scholarship recipients and even better seeing a little bit of Herb in them.”

Learn more about estate and planned gifts at auburngiving.org/estate or by emailing plannedgiving@auburn.edu or calling 334-844-7375.