Terry LeVon Cranfill touched the lives of many people.
The 27-year-old Bakersfield native died on March 1.
Despite having the skin condition icthyosis, Cranfill was encouraging to everyone he met.
“He was always trying to help people. There was another person with the same disease that didn’t have self-esteem like he did, and he was pushing him, he was like, no you are a good person. It does not matter what you look like, you are a good person,” said Mandie Cokley, Cranfill’s sister, during a recent memorial held for him in campus center.
Cranfill helped people out whenever he could.
“Whenever anybody needed money or needed something he was there to give it,” said Cokley.
According to Cokley, he loved to tell jokes.
“He was hilarious. He told jokes all the time. He never got the punch line right though. He would start to tell you a joke and he’d tell you the punch line and then he’d tell you the beginning of the joke,” she said.
Despite his medical setbacks, he always found something to keep himself energetic, such as participating in a 24-hour relay.
“Every year he was in it (the 24-hour relay) he won the most inspirational runner. He would run his four laps and run four laps with everybody else just to keep everybody going,” said Cokley.
Cranfill enjoyed many different activities.
“He liked music. He loved giving speeches. Karaoke, he used to go to pizza places and sing. He liked to play pool,” said Sueann Cleveland, his girlfriend, during the memorial.
Cranfill was in forensics for three years.
“He went out of town on all the competitions and won a lot of awards,” said Cleveland.
Cranfill’s funeral was held Tuesday at the Kern Christian Center, on District Boulevard and Gosford Road. Family and friends who knew him came to give their respects and tell of what made them fond of Cranfill.
He was later buried that day at Hillcrest Memorial Park & Mortuary.