Nominations for the Grand Island Senior High School Hall of Honor are accepted throughout each year. The Hall of Honor Committee will review all submitted nominations and honor inductees every other year. We are excited to announce the Hall of Honor Banquet & Celebration will be held again on Tuesday, March 12, 2024.
The Hall of Honor, inaugurated in 1983, recognizes Grand Island Senior High School alumni who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the betterment of society. Nominees must have graduated more than 20 years ago from the high school.
Bayard H. Paine
Class of 1889
Hall of Honor 1983
In 1894 Judge Bayard H. Paine received his Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois. He attended the University Of Michigan Law School for one summer in 1907. Later he received his honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln in 1934.
After graduating from college, he became Superintendent of Schools at North Loup for one year. From 1895 to 1898 he was the assistant principal of the Grand Island High School and taught science classes. From 1898 to 1904 he was the court reporter for District Judge John R. Thompson. He began the study of law and passed the State Bar examinations and was admitted to practice in Nebraska in 1904. He was police judge for the city of Grand Island from 1907 to 1911 and was Referee in Bankruptcy for 14 counties in Nebraska from 1906 to 1916. Further, he taught business law at the Grand Island Business College.
Desiring to become a judge, he filed as a candidate and was elected District Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District, which then consisted of 11 counties, and served for 14 years from 19l7 to 1930.
