Stephanie Ann Payne

"A celebration of the life of Stephanie Ann Payne, age 51, will be held at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, July 27, 2019, at First Baptist Church of Ruston with Josh Sanderson and Robert Warren officiating. Stephanie was born December 22, 1967, in West Monroe, Louisiana. Stephanie grew up in Calhoun, Louisiana. She obtained her bachelors degree from Louisiana Tech University and her masters and specialist degrees in school psychology from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. She worked 25 years in the Lincoln Parish School System as a school psychologist. After her family moved to Central, Louisiana she worked 3 years with the Louisiana Autism Spectrum and Related Disabilities Project helping school systems across South Louisiana. After her older daughter Savannah passed away unexpectedly in November 2016, Stephanie retired from the education field and began her new career of helping people thrive through all of life's circumstances. Stephanie took a leap of faith and began her own company, I'm Alive 2 Thrive, becoming a certified life coach, motivational speaker, and writer. Over the last 2 years she has spoken to countless groups and at various events throughout the southern states. Her topics included dealing with grief, encouragement, inspiration, and thriving in this "thing we call life." By using her website, Imalive2thrive.com, and other forms of social media, Stephanie was able to reach people worldwide. Stephanie loved being a wife to Tim, a mother to Savannah and Isabella, and a friend to everyone she met. Her hobbies were yoga, tennis, traveling, writing, blogging, and loving on her dogs. Stephanie is survived by a very close network of family and friends including her husband Tim Payne; daughter Isabella Payne; parents G.W. and Annette Frantom; brother Kirk Frantom (Misty); in-laws, W.L. and Billie Payne; a host of loving nieces and nephews, cousins, and extended family. She is preceded in death by her daughter Savannah Payne. Visitation will be held at First Baptist Church Ruston from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Friday, July 26, and immediately following the service on Saturday. Memorial contributions may be made to Pilots for Patients at www.pilotsforpatients.org or to a charity of your choice.