Hudson County Executive Craig Guy today delivered the following eulogy in celebration of the life of Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr., who died last week at age 65:
“Wow, what a celebration of life. I mean, when I look at this crowd here in this beautiful basilica, which I’ve been to numerous times to celebrate the first responders, police and fire, for the Blue mass during the course of the year. I can’t forget what a what a beautiful basilica this is. Thank you for having me celebrate the life of Congressman Donald Payne.
“Beatrice, my heart, my thoughts, my prayers are with you and your family during this time of grief. Please note that all of Hudson County mourns with the loss of the Payne family. I’ve heard a lot of speakers up here today talk about Donald’s outreach and his impact on Essex County. Well, with all due respect, County Executive, Joe D., Donald made a severe impact in the residents of Hudson County. I thank him. On a personal note, shortly after becoming county executive, Congressman Payne came into his district, which was within Jersey City, and him and I met with a group of constituents and the subject matter at that point, at that point was the escalating gun violence, not only in Congressman Payne’s district, but throughout the country and throughout the state of New Jersey.
“You know, I share the very same goals and objectives that all our congressional and elected leaders share within his great basilica. The gun violence throughout the country has to stop. Congressman Payne met with us, shared with us his thoughts, shared with us his work within Congress — and I know there are some folks here from Hudson County that were part of that seminar, part of that discussion, and I thank Congressman Payne for that.
“You know, Donald Payne stood as a voice for the voiceless. His leadership was inspirational. His legacy will continue to work on. He’s raised three children –somebody alluded to it earlier in the service — three children with his wife, all in the same house on the same block. That tells us all about Congressman Payne’s dedication to not only his family, but to the great city and the great district, in the 10th district that he represented.
“But no one in the Congress will be able to respect Donald’s finesse that he had. His background in graphic design meant that no matter at a community event or the House floor, Donald suits, with snazzy bow ties colorfully sharp, and he would change his glasses out to meet the color of the day. You know, I’m a sneaker guy and I like to be comfortable when we’re out there working. And whenever I was in Donald’s company, we would talk about our competing sneakers. Donald would have a certain color on. Obviously that matched the colors of his outfit, but he would tell me the sneakers that I had on, Yeah, they were good, but they did not match the color of my outfit.
“You know his standing commitment –and it hasn’t been mentioned yet today — was helping the MWBE businesses throughout the country and throughout the state of New Jersey. I believe the congressman would be proud to know that his efforts in Hudson County, we were able to produce triple of our overall spending in supporting MWBE businesses in the past few years.
“Let’s not forget Donald’s efforts in leading the project and in his transportation world. Donald was a big part of the $900 million Infrastructure Gateway project that is coming to New Jersey.
“You know, Representative Jeffries, you stated earlier that our friend Donald Payne was somewhere near the pearly gates in heaven. Well, I challenge that a bit. I say that Representative Payne has passed the Pearly gates. He’s in heaven, and he’s taking his seat: first row, first seat. Thank you, Congressman Payne.”