Michael H. Payson Sr. ’54

Michael H. Payson Sr. ’54 passed away December 24, 2023, in Falmouth, Massachusetts. He was a traveler, outdoor adventurer, and, perhaps to his own surprise, a career economist. Most remarkably, he maintained all these qualities and passions after contracting Guillain-Barre syndrome, which resulted in full paralysis in his late 30s. He attended Phillips Andover Academy and Hebron Academy in Maine. At Dartmouth he studied English literature, skied competitively, and played jazz drums. He loved his time at Dartmouth and was in the ROTC and then enlisted in the Air Force. Mike was lured to West Africa for an economic development project. Mike so enjoyed his work in Africa that he joined the World Bank, where he spent his professional career as a senior economist in Africa and resident representative in Ethiopia. Mike met and married Martha “Marby” Willing in 1958 and they raised five children. During a trip to Tunisia he contracted Guillain-Barre syndrome and suffered the immediate onset of full paralysis. Mike learned to walk again with braces and crutches. He returned to the World Bank. Mike and Marby divorced in 1974. In 1980 he met Barbara Ungar, who became his second wife. Barbara was a classical piano teacher and docent at the Museum of African Art and had two children from her former marriage. He is survived by Barbara and Marby; children Catharine ’87, Getty, Michael, Rachel, and Sophie; stepchildren Jennifer and Peter; and 11 grandchildren.