Russell Payne died in a three-car crash just north of Hampden a fortnight ago.
He and his wife Denise had three children and six grandchildren.
His son Graham Payne said his father was "always a lot of fun and a [had] great sense of humour".
"He’s been a great dad to all three of us and a great husband and a great grandfather.
"He was 100% a family man and a real rock for all of us.
"He had the patience of a saint, all the time in the world for his people.
"People were the most important thing in his life and he connected with people in all walks of his life whether it be sport or farming or family or community, he just connected with people beautifully."
Graham said he shared a love of cricket with his father.
"Cricket was a big thing for him and me.
"I grew up playing the game from a young age and he was always a big influence.
"Getting to play with him a couple of times was a highlight for me."
He had many "cherished memories" of Russell spending time with the family, particularly around their frequent camping trips to Nelson.
Oamaru’s Ted Tempero said Mr Payne was a "great friend" for more than seven decades.
"I’ve known Russ since form 3 at Waitaki Boys’ High School, so that’s 73 years ago," Mr Tempero said.
"He’s three months older than me so I’ve been allowed to call him the old fella.
"He was a very friendly person; he’d stop and talk to anyone. He was a good guy and a good family man."
Both men were made life members of North Otago Cricket and Union Cricket Club.
The pair also had the Payne Tempero Cup, which is contested in North Otago senior club cricket, named after them.
Mr Tempero said it was very special to share the honour with Mr Payne.
"Especially when Union win it."
They also each received a medal from the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Ted and his wife Val frequently holidayed with Russell and Denise including a trip to Wellington in 2009, he said.
"North Otago Cricket sponsored us, the four of us the Paynes and the Temperos, to go up for a test match in Wellington.
"Five days cricket — marvellous."
On the field, Mr Payne was one of the best opening batters North Otago had seen.
He played the eighth-most games for the association with 58 and scored the sixth most runs (1865).
He played 266 senior games for Union and remains the club’s all time leading run scorer with 9101.
His 1968-69 summer was one to behold — Mr Payne scored more than 1000 runs for both Union and North Otago.
His 721 runs in the Borton Cup that season is still a Union single-season record today.
Once his playing days were over, Mr Payne would spend more than a quarter century as groundsman at Centennial Park and received high praise from many big-name cricketers.
"Martin Crowe said in a magazine that I read that he wished all New Zealand wickets were like Oamaru’s," Mr Tempero said.
"Chris Harris sent him a letter congratulating him on the wicket that he had prepared and said it was one of the best he’d played on in New Zealand that season." Mr Cameron said.
The Payne Pavilion at Centennial Park was unveiled in 2019 and bore his name in honour of his years of service, Mr Cameron said.
"The reason he was deserving was, in my opinion, for the amount of time he’d actually spent at what he called "The Park".
"Initially it was perhaps suggested the ‘Russell Payne Pavilion’ but in the end it was decided if Denise hadn’t been as accepting as she was of the time he’d spent away at the ground that he wouldn’t have been able to achieve what he did.
"That’s why we called the Payne Pavilion, partially to acknowledge Denise as well."
Mr Cameron would remember Mr Payne as "a good bugger".
"When I arrived [to Oamaru], you could see the respect everybody had for him and for his achievements.
"You’d never ever find anyone that’s got a bad word about Russell.
"For those of us who enjoyed the game, there was always stories that he had of his time during the game.
"He was just good to be around — he was good company."
