Natoma Ann Canfield

Natoma Ann Canfield is off on her next adventure after peacefully passing away at her home in Medina Township on Friday, June 18, 2021. The youngest of four children, she was born in Cleveland 61 years ago to Kenneth H. and Betty Louise Canfield. Natoma led a mostly quiet life until turning 50. Two big events simultaneously changed her world in very different ways. In 2009, Natoma was self-employed and a survivor of breast cancer. Her health care premiums rose to the point she could no longer afford coverage. On Dec. 29, she wrote a letter to President Barack Obama telling him of her troubles and urging him to continue pushing for health-care reforms. To her great surprise, Natoma found her name in the national news when the president used her letter to help pass the Affordable Care Act. "I carried Natoma's story with me every day of the fight to pass this bill," the president said. In early 2010, Natoma was hospitalized and diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. She received a bone-marrow transplant at the Cleveland Clinic around the time the ACA became law. Though Natoma made good on her promise "to fight like a tiger," her health was on a downward spiral after leukemia. The Cleveland Clinic became her second home. More cancers and other difficult medical conditions followed, and kidney failure delivered the final blow. Natoma donated her body for medical research in hopes of being part of finding a cure for any of her many medical conditions. She was preceded in death by her parents. Natoma is survived by sisters, Barbara Mouton of Decatur, Ala., and Connie (Bruce) Anderson of Homestead, Fla., and brother. Kenneth H. (Annette) Canfield Jr. of Kettering, Ohio. She also leaves behind three nieces and a nephew, Leila Zeiher, Beth Simbro, Kelly Clements and Kevin Canfield. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Waite Funeral Home, 765 N Court Street, Medina, OH 4456 followed by a Memorial Service at 1 p.m. with Reverend Luke Linden officiating. Donations in her memory can be made to Feeding Medina County. Online condolences and memories may be left at www. waitefuneralhome.com