For 'amazed' Detroit dad, a 45-truck fleet began with one Happy Meal
Terry Payne defines a father as “the leader of the family.” And as Payne tells it, he received some of his earliest training for being a dad on the basketball court when he was a standout starting point guard for Kettering High School in the early 1980s.
“It was a great experience just being on the team playing high school basketball in the PSL, and the point guard is the leader — the brains,” the now 58-year-old Payne explained. “Sports can make a man out of you because you have to go to practice every day, you have to train, you have to do the discipline stuff, and it keeps you out of trouble. Playing sports is a beautiful thing for life.”
Many of the games Payne played in a Kettering uniform were a beautiful thing to watch for Detroit Public School League basketball fans of that era. Among those games was a memorable matchup around the holidays during the 1982-83 campaign, when the Pioneers from the east side — known that season in basketball circles as “The Supreme Court” — took on the Southwestern Prospectors at Detroit's “Big House,” Calihan Hall on the then-University of Detroit campus.
“The Christmas tournament set everything up for the big city championship game (a rematch with Southwestern) later that season, when they were outside scalping tickets; it was so crazy that year,” Payne recalled. “ ‘83 was all about the PSL, and it wasn’t just about Southwestern and Kettering High School. It was also about Cass Tech and Southeastern and Cody — the PSL was loaded — every team had somebody. That was a championship year for all PSL schools.”
For the record, Kettering split with Southwestern (the eventual Class A state championship runner-up) during the highly competitive season Payne described, with Kettering winning the first game 57-55 when a driving, twisting Derrick Kearney sank a bucket as time expired, which triggered a spontaneous celebration on the Calihan Hall floor. The Feb. 26, 1983, edition of the Free Press documented the success of the Kettering team that season. In a story written by the legendary Hal Schram, Kearney and Robert Godbolt represented Kettering as first- and second-team selections on the Free Press’ All-PSL Team. And Kettering’s coach, the late Arnold Nevels, was recognized as Coach of the Year. Around that time, Payne, an adept facilitator for Kearney, Godbolt and other potent scorers on the Kettering squad, was feeling good too. And for a while, he had grand hoop dreams.
“When I was coming up, I thought I would play for the University of Michigan or the Detroit Titans on my way to the NBA, but I took a different path,” Payne said Wednesday from the offices of Payne Landscaping Inc., which he founded in 1989.
After Payne’s Kettering days, some of his fellow high-profile PSL contemporaries with names like the late Roy Tarpley (Cooley High School/University of Michigan), Demetrius Gore (Chadsey/Pittsburgh), Vernon Carr (Cody/Michigan State) and Antoine “The Judge” Joubert (Southwestern/Michigan) would go on to play big-time college basketball games viewed by millions on TV. But Payne tells a story about becoming a father for the first time.
“I had to leave school because I had a child. And at that time, we didn’t have much money, so I had to come back home and try to support the baby,” said Payne, who described playing at Garden City (Kansas) Community College with Keith Smart, who became famous for sinking the game-winning shot that lifted Indiana University to a national championship in 1987.
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When Payne returned home to Detroit from Kansas, he found employment as a custodian at the Belle Maison East apartments on East Jefferson. He was a long way from the excitement and accolades of his PSL days. And Payne also appeared to be the longest of long shots to ever own a business which provides 100 jobs as he does today at Payne Landscaping, located on the corner of East Davison and Van Dyke. However, as Payne revealed Wednesday, a caring boss at the Belle Maison East saw championship potential in Payne — not as a ballplayer, but as a man and a father who had much more to contribute to his family and community.
“I was 22, 23 years old at the time, and I think she (Deborah Jude Alexander) knew my background and what I had been at Kettering,” Payne said of his former boss. “She saw more in me and didn’t want me to be in that field. And one day, she gave me an ultimatum: She piled a whole lot of work on me that I could not do in one day and said “you gotta get all of this done today, or don’t come back.' ”
The boss’ shrewd ploy gave Payne a reason to take an early lunch break.
“I went over to McDonalds that was right on Jefferson and Crane and had a Happy Meal,” Payne said with a deadpan delivery. “And I was just playing with the little toy (from the Happy Meal) on the table and I decided that I couldn’t do all of that work, so I walked away from the job and went home and cut my lawn.
“And when I started cutting my lawn, the neighbors (7 Mile and Hoover area, near Osborn High School) started asking me if I could cut their grass because I did it so great. This was like ‘88, ‘89 and at the apartment complex I was only making like $5.49 (an hour), so when somebody is giving you $10 or $12 or $15 to cut their grass at that time, it was easy to make that transition — as a point guard. In life, you have to make those decisions. Are you going to stay over here and play with the winners, or play with the losers? So that’s how I got started in the business.”
Payne’s days of cutting the neighbor’s lawns are long gone, as his company specializes in “landscaping services, grounds maintenance, snow removal and tree service for commercial, industrial and municipal” clients. But he says there is definitely a community and neighborhood connection to everything he does as a businessman.
“Without Detroit Public Schools, the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan and the private institutions we have served, there would be no us, and we wouldn’t be able to provide jobs and feed families in Detroit neighborhoods,” said Payne, who also coached the Kettering junior varsity and varsity basketball teams for a combined 17 years during the period he was expanding his business. “And through those jobs we provide at Payne Landscaping, we try to teach each employee how to become better adults, and better fathers, because that’s going to help our neighborhoods be better.”
Payne’s use of the pronoun “we” is highly intentional. When it is suggested to him that growing from one lawn mower to a business fleet of 45 vehicles that services city, county and state contracts; along with being the proprietor of two They Say restaurants (Detroit and Harper Woods); while also refurbishing the nonprofit Brighter Detroit Community Center (in the Gratiot Woods neighborhood) are special community contributions to say the least, Payne gets quiet for a spell before speaking from the heart.
“This is not about me — God did this,” Payne, the husband of Sharlyn Payne and father to Tierra, Tikirra, Terry Jr. and Terrell, professed. “I’m amazed myself sometimes to be able to get up and look after people and help people. I thank God because God has put me in all of the positions that I’ve been in; I’m just a team leader. I had a great coaching staff when I played and I had a great basketball team when I played. And my team now is awesome!”
And Thursday, from the comfortable, air-conditioned offices of Payne Landscaping, a couple of Payne’s key team members conveyed their admiration for their “leader” in a way that no Father’s Day greeting card could ever match.
“Mr. Payne’s slogan is ‘We are one.’ And as employees, everyone is treated with love and respect,” said Porchia Mulligan, a native east-side Detroiter (Denby High School, Class of 2007), who was groomed to be the director of operations at Payne Landscaping after working as a waitress, bartender and manager at the They Say restaurant in Detroit. “For the community, Payne Landscaping is about second chances. And I think that is so important, now more than ever, because so many people are discouraged.
"But with that second chance, you can change your life around. I’ve known some people who have gone from being felons to having healthy, long-standing relationships and lives. I’ve seen that happen with this company, because Mr. Payne is adamant about opening his doors to whomever wants a job.”
Denise Bennett, Payne Landscaping’s chief financial officer, was a surprise arrival in the office on Thursday afternoon due to a wrist injury she recently suffered that required surgery. Out of the earshot of colleagues, Bennett confided that she was in some pain, but having a chance to talk about someone who she says shares her passion for Detroit brought a smile to her face.
“This is the best job I’ve ever had because I have had a chance to use my expertise, and grow, and be mentored, and it’s all connected to this city and this is my home,” said Bennett, a 1974 graduate of Central High School, where she was class president and valedictorian. “Terry is definitely a native Detroiter who believes in giving back to the community. A couple of weeks ago, he hosted a Detroit Public Schools alumni reunion event at his restaurant. And there have been times when we have cut and cleaned fields that were not even a part of our contracts, to make an impact. And making an impact is what it’s all about when you’re a part of Terry’s team.”
Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and lifelong lover of Detroit culture in all of its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at: stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott's stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former point guard Terry Payne continues to assist Detroiters
