Cleveland councilwoman eulogized

CLEVELAND (AP) — About a thousand people came to a downtown memorial service Friday to honor longtime city councilwoman Fannie Lewis, who led efforts to rebuild her inner-city neighborhood devastated by riots in the mid-1960s.

The public service at Public Auditorium within Cleveland Convention Center was followed by several hours of public viewing.

Lewis was 82 when she died Monday morning at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. The native of Memphis, Tenn., had served on the Cleveland City Council since 1980. Mayor Frank Jackson praised Lewis as an outstanding public servant who loved Cleveland.

Burial was to follow a private family service today.

Lewis, a small person physically, was remembered as never being shy about stating her views and arguing for the betterment of her impoverished neighborhood.

“Each and every day, she knew that we loved her,” her son, Wayne D. Lewis, said at the memorial service.

He said his mother could have afforded to move into suburbia.

“One of the reasons I believe she stayed so long is because she had a vision,” he said.