Commander Albion L. Payson ’58 died on December 21, 2011, in Portland, Maine.

He was born in Portland on April 28, 1936, son of Thomas Payson ’32, and prepared for college at North Yarmouth Academy and Maine Central Institute. He was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity. Soon after graduating, he enlisted in the Navy, completed Officer Candidate School and served in the Pacific on the USS Bennington. He left active duty and entered the Naval Reserves, in which he served until 1986, having achieved the rank of commander. He taught for five years at North Yarmouth Academy then earned a master’s degree in mathematics at Penn State University. From 1972 to 1997, he taught all levels of mathematics at Ramapo Senior High School in Spring Valley, N.Y., and coached soccer, basketball and Math League. A lifelong Red Sox fan, he was passionate about baseball and officiated as an umpire at all levels of recreational and scholastic competition over four decades in both Maine and New York. He rose to the presidency of the Rockland County (N.Y.) Umpires Association and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1996. This commitment to baseball culminated in recognition from the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame, which presented him with its President’s Award in 2011. He was an active member of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Yarmouth, where he sang in the choir. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Susan Divinagracia Payson; two sons, Albion Little Payson II and Benjamin Nicholas Payson; a daughter, Teresa Landor Payson ’92; five grandchildren; four sisters, Helen Brown Seager, Penelope Hart Simkin, Caroline Cushman Payson, and Barbara Tellefsen; and a brother, Nicholas Payson.