Dan Payne
Daniel Garcia Payne is a retired Marine Corp officer. He enlisted in the Marines in 1973 and served as an enlisted man for 12 years and reached the rank of Gunnery Sergeant. He was appointed an officer in 1987. He is a highly decorated veteran of Desert Storm. He achieved the rank of CWO-4 Warrant Officer.
After he retired from the Marines in 1996, Payne has been heavily involved in the Fresno community. He taught at Fresno City College from 1996 to 2000. He was a member of the Central Valley Christian School Board. He served on the Housing Community Development Board as commissioner from 1996 to 2014. He served as the Executive Director of the California Veterans Action Alliance from 2004 to present day. He has worked on the Fresno Veterans Parade as both an announcer and CEO.
Payne has received several awards for his involvement in the Fresno community. He was given the Center for Applied Competitive Technology (CACT) Teacher’s award in 1998. He was awarded 2002 Business Man of the Year. His family was honored by La Familia of Silicon Valley as The Hispanic Veteran and community family of the year 2010. In 2002, Payne was awarded the Gold Medal for volunteer work by President George W. Bush.
He has been married for 39 years to Mary Lynn Payne and they have raised two daughters.