Dawn Michelle (McKinnon) Payne

Dawn Michelle (McKinnon) Payne was joyfully welcomed into this world on June 17, 1975, by her parents, Michelle and Ben McKinnon, and her grandparents and extended family. She left this world much too soon on November 10, 2025, at age 50. We greatly grieve her passing but know she is in the hands of her loving Heavenly Father, whom she served all her life.

Dawn was born and raised in Niceville, Florida. She graduated from Niceville High School with high honors and the University of West Florida cum laude. She married C. Foster Payne of Eglin AFB in 1994. They transferred to Buckley AFB in Colorado four years later, living and working in that area until 2019, when they answered the call into the worship ministry at Chattanooga Valley Baptist Church in Flintstone, GA.

Dawn’s favorite place in the Niceville area was Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Park. She loved skiing and tubing there, always challenging her dad to go faster. She earned a black belt in karate in two separate schools of study and ran her own dojo for a brief time. For all her years in Niceville, she worshipped and served at First Baptist Church of Niceville (Church on Bayshore).

Dawn loved her Lord, her family, children, and animals (especially turtles). She believed in kindness and compassion towards all people and was generous in sharing her home with those who needed refuge for a short while. Over her lifetime, she also adopted or fostered a variety of needy animals.

Dawn is survived by her husband, Foster; her three beloved children, Devon, Daegin (Jack), and Vivienne; her granddaughter, Yllva; and her parents, Ben and Michelle McKinnon. She has left wounded hearts and a hole in all our lives, but we are grateful for the time we had with her.

Services will be held at Church on Bayshore on Friday, November 21. Visitation at 9:30 AM and service at 10:00 AM. She will be interred at Heritage Gardens Cemetery. Heritage Gardens Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

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