Family members of fallen Washita County Sheriff’s Deputy Clifford Phillip Payne gathered in Oklahoma City with Governor Kevin Stitt and Rep. Todd Russ to participate in a ceremonial bill signing for HB2311, which named a section of State Highway 54 in Payne’s honor.
Payne, a deputy in the Washita County Sheriff’s Office, was killed in the line of duty June 18, 1977, during a drug arrest.
The section of Highway 54 named in Payne’s honor begins at the Washita-Custer County line and extends south to the intersection of State Highway 54B in Washita County. The section will henceforth be known as the “Deputy Sheriff Clifford Phillip Payne Memorial Highway.”
“Naming a highway is a way to pay tribute to a local fallen hero,” Russ said in a press release. “I hope each time the family of Deputy Sheriff Payne passes they they know their loved one is remembered for his sacrifice to keep us all safe. Thank you Deputy Sheriff Payne for your service. We will never forget you.”
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation will soon place permanent markers along the highway to designate the memorial.
Photo courtesy of Oklahoma
House of Representatives,
Communication & Public
Affairs.