Obama’s Arizona Ties

Barack Obama’s great-uncle, Sahuarita resident Jon Payne, says the past few months have been a “surreal experience” for him and his family.

“Sometimes it’s hard to believe this is all really happening, and I just have to snap myself back to reality.”

Payne, 70, a retired urban planner originally from Wichita, Kan., has lived in Rancho Sahuarita with his wife, Sue, since 2004. His 86-year-old sister, Madeline Payne Dunham, is Obama’s maternal grandmother, who helped raise him as a child.

Payne is just four years older than Obama’s mother, Ann, and says the two were very close growing up.

“She was a wonderful lady, and she would have been very proud of her son,” he said.

Obama was 11 or 12 years old when he, his mother and half-sister took a bus trip across the country with their grandmother and stopped in Kansas to visit the family. This was the first time they met, says Payne, who described the young Obama as a “bright young man” who was “very personable and outgoing.”

Photos from this time show Jon, Ann and Barack smiling and laughing as they play a game of darts, the 2008 presidential candidate’s bright smile instantly recognizable in the snapshot taken more than 35 years ago.

Payne isn’t too close with Obama, who grew up mainly in Hawaii and Indonesia. But his sister and her late husband took him in at the age of 10, raising him in their Honolulu home until his graduation from high school. Obama affectionately calls her “toot,” short for “tutu,” the Hawaiian word for grandparent.

Payne says Madeline now suffers from osteoporosis and other serious health problems. She underwent surgery for corneal implants a year ago, “which is a big undertaking for someone who’s 86,” he said.

“We think it’s because she wanted to be able to see the T.V. — so she could see Barack.”

Payne has spoken to the Democratic Club of the Santa Rita Area several times and has participated in rallies held in Tucson and Green Valley in support of his great-nephew, but insists he’s no politician.

“The family here in America has tried to keep a low profile and not say anything that would have a negative effect on Barack or his campaign. We all fully support him and wish him well.”

But he says that their pride in Obama’s accomplishments is combined with as serious concern for his safety.

“Barack and his family are living a very high profile lifestyle, and we’re worried about all the crazies out there,” he said, citing Tuesday’s arrest of four men at the Democratic National Convention connected to an assassination plot.

In spite of the challenges that may lay ahead for the candidate, Payne hopes that Obama will win the election.

“We just can’t go on the way we have been,” he said. “I think he’s the best option we’ve got for some real change in this country.”

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726