Services will be 10:00 a.m. Saturday, August 26, 2017 at the L. E. Black, Phillips & Holden Funeral Home for Mrs. Fannie K. Leftwich, 84, of Cleveland, formerly of Youngstown, who passed away Sunday, August 20, 2017 at Hillcrest Hospital in Cleveland.

Mrs. Leftwich, affectionately called “Kate” by her family, was born May 18, 1933 in Danville (Pittsylvania County) Virginia, a daughter of James Henry and Maddie Grant Tarpley.  Fannie married the late Petross C. Leftwich in 1948.  They moved their family to Youngstown from Virginia in 1953 seeking a better life.  For many years, Fannie was a homemaker while her children were young.  Later, she obtained a job at St. Elizabeth Medical Center where she worked in Central Supply until her retirement in 1996.

Fannie loved the Lord.  She would begin each day reading scripture, and would end each day the same way.  She was a former member of Triedstone Missionary Baptist Church and Rising Star Baptist Church.  Fannie loved her children and family.  She would spend hours talking on the phone to out of town family members.  When she got ill, they all remarked how they missed talking to her.  She greeted everyone with a smile and a kind word.  To many she was considered a “second Mom”.  She enjoyed reading and playing the lottery.

From her union with Petross, she leaves to cherish her memory four children, Gladys, James, and Helen all of the Cleveland area, and Russell (Grace) of Cairo, Egypt; two grandchildren, Angela of Youngstown whom she raised and Cameron of Cairo; a sister, Ceil (Joe) Tarpley Carter of Danville, VA; and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by three sisters, Emma Tarpley Madison, Patsy Tarpley King and Frances Tarpley Leftwich; and three brothers, Lewis “Trick” Tarpley, Albert “Doc” Tarpley and James Henry “Bill” Tarpley.

Friends may call Saturday from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. at the funeral home.