Annie Pearl Fambrough

Annie Fambrough Obituary A Life to Remember Annie Pearl Fambrough (nee “Bender”) Devoted and Loving Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Great-grandmother, Great-great-grandmother, Aunt, Friend, and Faithful Woman of God Annie Pearl Fambrough (Pearl) was born on May 2, 1938 in Louisville, Mississippi to loving parents Orange Metts and Roxie Cotton-Metts. Pearl was the youngest of seven children born to this blessed union. She attended Louisville public schools, and frequently spoke of her desire to attend college and study law. On March 3, 1958, Pearl met and married Willie Alvin Bender, and from this union eight (8) children were born. Pearl chose to defer her plans for college and law school in order to devote her life to the nurturing and Christian rearing of her children. She was a devout Christian all of her life and was baptized at an early age in the Southern Baptist tradition. Upon relocating from Mississippi to Ohio in 1960, Pearl was a member of several Baptist churches before finding her permanent church home at the Church of God MPGT (Cleveland), where she was a proud member of the Mothers’ Board until the time of her passing. Pearl had a very strong work ethic that she instilled in each of her children. Over the course of forty (40) years of employment, she was employed at the Gray’s Drug Store, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Pearl most enjoyed her employment as a Parent Aide with DCFS because it allowed her to nurture and care for children who had been removed from their parents’ care because of abuse and/or neglect. Pearl could always find a special way to comfort these children and ease their fears. After successfully and independently raising her children to adulthood, Pearl was blessed with the union of marriage to Mr. Willie A. Fambrough on September 20, 1989. Pearl and Willie enjoyed more than sixteen (16) years of marriage prior to his passing on May 7, 2005. Pearl was a devoted wife to Willie and they enjoyed many happy times together. Their favorite activities included: attending church, travelling over the country in their recreational vehicle (RV), watching horse races, visiting relatives, dining out, and preparing huge holiday feasts for family and friends. Pearl enjoyed cooking for her family, and would always go “above and beyond” to make ten course (or more) meals to bring her family together. Cooking and breaking bread together as a family was a tradition that Pearl instilled in each of her children and grandchildren. Pearl’s family knew that they could always count on her to have dinner ready every Sunday and definitely every holiday. Pearl’s son Kenneth Bender, immortalized and honored his mother’s love for family and cooking by establishing AnnieP’s Soulfood Restaurant in 2014. As the namesake for the restaurant, Pearl took great pride in the quality and preparation of the food made from her recipes. She could frequently be found in the restaurant’s kitchen giving food preparation guidance to the chefs, or in her designated “booth” observing the behavior of waitress and customer flow. Pearl was often tough and a stickler for “doing it right…because her name was on it! Pearl passed away peacefully on August 8, 2020 at Marymount Hospital. She was preceded in death by her parents (Orange and Roxie); siblings (Johnny, Ora Lee, Essie, Otis, Robert, and Orange Jr.); husbands (Willie Bender and Willie Fambrough); children (Edna Marie, Alvin David, and Patricia Ann); sisters-in-law (Jimmie Dee Bender and Ruth Harrington); and brothers-in-law (Johnnie Bender and Clarence Bender). Pearl is survived by her children: Willie Michael Bender (Crystal Morris), Mary Veronica Scott (Lester Graham), Katherine Bender, Kenneth Bender (Cordella Rouse), and Felicia Van Phillips (Alan Phillips); sons-in-law: Peter Hankins (Edna Marie**) and George “Lee” Harris (Patricia Ann**); nieces and nephews: Joyce Davis, Barbara Strowder, Shirley Eiland, Johnnie Bender, Adam Bender, Charles Bender, Bryant Bender, Leon Bender, Vanessa Martin, Bud Martin, Lynn Martin, and Veradeen Harrington (Mississippi); and a host of grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. Pearl truly loved her children, but loved her grandchildren and “greats” even more. Pearl will be truly missed, but her love and legacy will endure forever in more than seventy-seven (77) direct descendants. **Denotes deceased Funeral Services will be live streamed at Second Ebeneezer Cleveland on Facebook. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Annie Pearl Fambrough, please visit our floral store. Read More

Annie Pearl Fambrough

May 2, 1938 - August 8, 2020