Philip Horace Paye III

Philip "Phil" Horace Paye, III, died peacefully at home on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, after a long and valiant fight against cancer. Phil was born on August 13, 1940, in Washington D.C. as his father, Philip Sr. was serving as an Army doctor. Philip Sr.'s wife, Susanne Victoria Hunt, became a nurse in Michigan, where she met her future husband. Together, they settled on Lake Mitchell in Cadillac, MI when Philip Sr. accepted a position as the radiologist covering Northern Michigan. Phil graduated Cadillac High School and went on to Central Michigan University, where he majored in the sciences and played on the golf team. After graduation, he launched a successful teaching career that spanned 37 years, starting at Lincoln Park Junior High, where he taught biology and earth sciences, and continued at Cabrini High School in Allen Park and Lincoln Park High School, where he taught botany, zoology, biology and chemistry. Later in his career, he coached girls' varsity basketball. He was elected President of the Lincoln Park Education Association, garnering respect among his peers and administrators.

Phil was a talented golfer for much of his life, he won the Cadillac Country Club annual golf championship title multiple times and qualified and played in the Michigan Open at Shanty Creek. While living in Brighton, he became a member of the Ore Lake Preservation Association and volunteered to collect and check water samples and published an article in the Hamburg Environmental Review Board about effects of fertilizer on inland water sources. He also served as Board Representative for the Hamburg Township at the Huron River Watershed Council. In his free time, he enjoyed swimming, fishing, and other boating activities on his summers off from teaching. In retirement, Phil continued his charitable activities, volunteering to deliver meals to those in need through Meals on Wheels, devoting himself to bettering the Cadillac Country Club, and eloquently expressing his opinion in published letters to the editor in the Cadillac News. His sparkling intelligence, dry humor, and dedication to making a difference in teenagers lives through his decades of teaching will be dearly missed by all and never forgotten.

Phil is survived by his devoted widow, Marsha Ann Armstrong; his loving daughters, Lisa Sue Wren and Juliet Susanne Paye, from his first marriage to Rita Elaine (nee Johnson) Paye; granddaughters, Madeleine Paye Wren and Alexandra Sale Wren; beloved younger sister, Patricia Ann (Patrick) McCarthy; and many loving friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Philip and Susanne Paye II; and a son-in-law, Christopher Wren.

A remembrance of Phil's life will be held on Friday, June 24, 2022 from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Hitesman-Holdship Funeral Home. Funeral services will be conducted on Saturday, June 25 at 11 a.m. at Zion Lutheran Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to Meals on Wheels.

The family is being served by Hitesman-Holdship Funeral Home.

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