Charline Rose Payne

She is survived by her sister Patricia Sutherland Salerno, brother-in-law Mark Salerno and niece Jamie Marie Salerno, all of whom were primary caregivers for the past 6 years of her life.  Mary Leone Sutherland Kottke, husband Ron Kottke also assisted Charline in her last days providing comfort and care, Brothers Charles W. Sutherland, Timothy F. Sutherland, wife Martha, nieces and grand nieces, nephews and grand nephews and friends whose lives were made richer by knowing her.

Charline lived a life deeply rooted in faith, learning, teaching, and creativity. She dedicated much of her life to teaching religious studies in Catholic schools throughout Nebraska, Virginia, and Georgia, sharing not simply her knowledge of faith, but her love for it.

Her own faith journey included years spent as a Catholic nun,( Sr. Mary Pius) and the friendships she formed during that chapter remained deeply important to her throughout her life. She treasured her church family and maintained meaningful relationships with the sisters, priests, pastors, students, and friends she met along the way.

Charline was also a published poet and a lifelong writer. She loved sitting outside with pen and paper, finding words for the world around her. Even as her body began to limit her, her mind and spirit remained wonderfully active. She continued leading Bible studies and poetry classes at her nursing home, still teaching, still creating, and still bringing people together.

Those who knew Charline knew there was nothing dull about her. Her mind remained sharp as a tack, and she had a quick wit and a famously sharp tongue to match. She loved to write, color, teach, talk about her faith—and cheer for Notre Dame football.

While her body eventually failed her, it never defined her. Charline remained curious, creative, faithful, intelligent, and unmistakably herself.

She leaves behind decades of students she taught, people with whom she shared her faith, poems she put into the world, friendships she treasured, and a family who will remember both her devotion and her wit.

Services celebrating Charline’s life will be held in both Georgia and Nebraska. Dates and details will be announced.

She now finds the peace promised by the faith she spent a lifetime studying, teaching, and living.