Christine Payne Mattern

Christine A. Payne Mattern transitioned into eternal life on Saturday, March 17th (St. Patrick's Day) at 5:00 a.m. She was living at her mother, Priscilla Payne’s home and her father, Jay Payne was caring for her at the time she began to pass. He had just begun to play, “Oh, What A Beautiful Morning” by one of her favorite artists, James Taylor. Christine’s dad immediately woke up the rest of her family members and they surrounded her with love and lifted her up with prayer. Christine was born into this world as a free-spirit on September 29th, 1967 in Detroit. She lived in Grosse Pointe with her family until they moved to her never forgotten home of Traverse City in 1973. Christine spent her early childhood playing with lifelong friends she met while living in the Huron Hills neighborhood. In 1977 her parents bought a home on East Shore Road where she spent the remainder of her childhood playing in the waters and sands of East Bay. She swam like a fish and spent her teenage years as one of Traverse City’s lifeguards during the summer months and taking ballet lessons in the winter, dancing her heart out as a beautiful ballerina. Remembered as a sweet and quiet girl, she attended St. Francis grade school and then transferred to the Traverse City public schools until 1985 where she spent her senior year at Pathfinder School, graduating in 1986. She pursued a liberal arts education at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, which she loved for its intimate community and beautiful natural setting. Later she attended Kendall College of Art and Design, graduating in 1992 as an Interior Designer. For a short time she worked at the Grand Rapids Press until she became a full time mother. She continued her interest in the arts, helping friends and family design their homes from time to time. She worked for Yeary-Van Tol Designs in Grand Rapids and Nest of Grand Traverse. She then founded her own company, Christine & Co. where she continued her artistic pursuits. She was married in Grand Rapids in 1990 and in 1994 she welcomed her first daughter, Madeline Andrea into the world, and then her son, Edward Jay (E. J.) born in1996. She was divorced in 1998 and later rekindled her relationship with her high school sweetheart and the love of her life, Russell C. Mattern. They married in 2000 and soon after welcomed their second daughter, Lillian Prudence. Christine was an amazing mother who was unconditionally devoted to her three children. She taught them to trust themselves, to be compassionate, to listen, to observe and to let their roots be unmoved by life’s difficulties. She was a beloved mother, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, cousin, aunt and friend. We will never forget her beautiful smile, her thoughtful nature and how she touched the spirit of everyone who knew her. She will be sadly missed by her three children, Madeline Andrea Vander Velde, Edward Jay (E.J.) Vander Velde and Lillian Prudence Mattern; her father and step-mother, Jay and Holly Payne; her mother, Priscilla M. Payne; brothers, Gregory J. Payne (Amy) and Jonathan M. Payne; her parents-in-law, Dan and Mary Jo (Mattern) Flory, and Marlene Jade and Edward J. Vander Velde; sisters-in-law, Jillian M. Bushman (Kent) and Lynn Mattern; and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. She was preceded in death by her two sisters, Johanne Marie Payne and Jennifer Suzanne Payne; her husband, Russell C. Mattern; father-in-law, Richard C. Mattern; grandparents, Prudence H. and Wm. D. McIntyre; her adopted grandmother, Nellie C. Schardt, her uncle, William D. McIntyre Jr. and aunts, Jan M. Linsenmeyer and Sharon M. Malone. Christine’s Visitation will be held on Thursday, March 29, 2018 at Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home in Traverse City from 3 – 5 pm and again from 6 – 8 pm.

Christine Payne Mattern

September 29, 1967 - March 17, 2018