Margie Payton’s paintings become parting gifts at celebration of life

Clinkingbeard Funeral Home looked a little different than it usually does last Monday, as people wandered quietly through the building, pausing to take in dozens of varied paintings that covered nearly every available wall. 

Some smiled as they recognized familiar Ozark landscapes. Others lingered over colorful flowers or the expressive faces of beloved dogs captured on canvas. Many pointed to a favorite, sharing stories of the woman whose hands had brought each piece to life. That day, Clinkingbeard looked less like a funeral home and more like an art gallery. For Margie Payton’s family, that was exactly the point.

When the 98-year-old Isabella resident passed away May 31, she left behind far more than memories. She left behind dozens upon dozens of paintings created over decades of doing what she loved most. 

Rather than storing the artwork away or deciding who should inherit each piece, her family chose a different kind of memorial.

 Friends, neighbors and loved ones who attended Margie’s celebration of life were invited to choose a painting to take home, a final gift from an artist who spent much of her life creating beauty to share with others.

By the end of the afternoon, many of the paintings that had transformed the funeral home into a gallery had found new homes, where they will continue reminding families across the Ozarks of the woman who painted them.

It was perhaps the most fitting tribute imaginable for someone whose life was marked by creativity.

Born July 30, 1927, in St. Louis, Margie Klorer Payton was an only child whose artistic spirit followed her throughout nearly a century of life. After graduating from Rosati-Kain High School, she met Emmit “Skip” Payton while the two were dancing at the famous Casa Loma Ballroom in 1951. They married the following year and would spend the next 65 years together.

The couple even taught swing dancing in St. Louis while Skip worked as a sales representative. Margie found her own calling as an instructor, teaching continuing education classes through the Lindbergh School District. Students learned line dancing, calligraphy, shorthand, macramé and ceramics, while Margie continued exploring painting, sewing and countless other creative pursuits herself.

Although St. Louis was home for many years, the Ozarks steadily captured the couple’s hearts.

Beginning in 1978, they became regular visitors to Bull Shoals Lake, staying so often at Theodosia Marina Resort that the owners eventually handed them a key to their favorite room and told them to keep it. They later purchased a small home tucked into the woods before retiring permanently in 1996 to Rainbow Ridge, where their blufftop home overlooked Bull Shoals Lake.

“It’s so beautiful,” Margie once told the Ozark County Times of the view outside her windows. “The scenery is just gorgeous.”

That scenery found its way into many of her paintings. So did blooming flowers, quiet country scenes and cherished pets. She painted dog portraits for friends and family and rarely stopped looking for something new to learn or create.

Years ago, when the Times visited Margie at her home, her days were filled with art supplies, books, flowers and unfinished projects. She spoke enthusiastically about studying new techniques, trying different mediums and never losing her curiosity. Even in her 90s, she was still mowing her own yard, tending her gardens and creating artwork almost daily.

At 91, she laughed and said, “I feel like I’m 60.”

Her artistic legacy extended well beyond the canvases themselves. Friends knew her through Theodosia United Methodist Church, the Chickenfoot gals and local art groups where she encouraged others to discover their own creative abilities. Teaching and learning remained lifelong passions.

That lifelong passion was impossible to miss during her celebration of life.

Instead of a single display table filled with photographs and mementos, nearly every direction mourners turned revealed another painting bearing Margie’s unmistakable touch. Together they told the story of a woman who saw beauty in the Ozarks she loved and faithfully captured it with brush and paint.

As guests prepared to leave, they didn’t simply sign a guest book or pick up a memorial card. They carried home a piece of Margie’s life.

In the days since, her paintings have been hung in homes throughout the Ozarks and across the country, where they will continue doing what they have always done, brightening rooms, starting conversations and reminding those who knew Margie of the gentle artist who created them.

For an artist, there may be no greater legacy than knowing your work will outlive you. Thanks to her family’s thoughtful idea, Margie Payton’s final exhibition at Clinkingbeard Funeral Home allowed the pieces she lovingly painted to be shared, where they will continue bringing joy to those who knew and loved her for years to come.