The tributes and remembrances are pouring in for famed Omaha broadcaster Jack Payne, who has passed away at the age of 99.
From Okemah, Oklahoma, Payne's multi-faceted career behind the microphone in Omaha, mainly covering sports, included long runs at WOW-TV and Radio and here at KFAB Radio.
He had a long career on Nebraska football radio broadcasts for those stations;
In the early 70's, as Nebraska was poised for the glorious run to its first two National Championships in football, Payne joined legendary play-by-play man Lyell Bremser and KMTV Sports Director Dave Blackwell for an unforgettable combination in the booth describing the exploits of the Big Red on KFAB Radio's 50,000 watts, broadcasts that echoed through urban and suburban neighborhoods and cornfields on Husker football Saturdays.
Showtime on football Saturday's on KFAB continued for Payne into the early 90's in the booth with Kent Pavelka and Gary Sadlemyer.
And then there was the College World Series;
For generations of fans at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium, the sound of Jack Payne greeting them at the ballpark on the hill as the CWS Public Address announcer signaled that school was out and the promise of Summer was at hand.
There was more: Payne also broadcast Creighton and Nebraska basketball, was the public address man for the Nebraska State High School Track And Field meet, and even broadcast the Omaha Knights pro hockey team at Ak Sar Ben Coliseum.
The family of Jack Payne says plans for a memorial will be announced later.
(Pictures from UCLA Athletics, KFAB, and Bill Jensen)
KFAB Radio Husker football broadcasters Jack Payne, Kent Pavelka, and Gary Sadlemyer
Jack Payne at the CWS with current series public address announcer Bill Jensen and longtime scoreboard operator Norm Major