Jessie Burton Payton

Jessie Burton Payton, age 88, of Louisville, Kentucky, passed away peacefully on October 20, 2025, at Park Terrace Health Campus. Born on April 21, 1937, in Quicksand, Kentucky, Jessie made Louisville her lifelong home, where she built a life centered on family, faith, and kindness.

She was the daughter of the late Benjamin Burton and Stella Green. Jessie was preceded in death by her beloved husband, J.P. Payton, with whom she shared many years of love and laughter before his passing 41 years ago.

She is survived by her children, Lisa Ellison (Mark) and Mark Payton (Debbie), and by Ruth Ellis, whom she loved as a daughter. Jessie also leaves behind four grandchildren—John Osterhage, Derek Hall, Alison Sapp, and Mark Payton, Jr.—and Becky Martin, whom she loved as a granddaughter, along with ten great-grandchildren.

Though Jessie had not been active in a church in many years, she deeply loved the Lord and maintained a strong and faithful prayer life. Her quiet faith guided her actions and shaped the spirit that everyone around her felt. For roughly twenty years, she worked at Rockford Manor Nursing Home, where her servant’s heart and caring nature touched the lives of countless residents and co-workers. This same, loving spirit could be seen in the last years of her life as she would care for other residents at her memory care facility.

At home, Jessie found joy in the simple blessings of life—cooking, crocheting and sewing with care, and listening to the country music she loved. Her family remembers her as sweet, loving, generous, and fun-loving—a woman who gave freely of herself and found happiness in making others feel loved and cared for.

Jessie’s passing leaves an empty place in the hearts of those who loved her, but her family takes comfort in knowing she is now reunited in Heaven with her beloved husband, J.P., and at peace in the presence of the Lord she loved and faithfully prayed to throughout her life. Her kindness, laughter, and love will live on in the memories of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all who were blessed to know her.