He was born to Lewis Cass and Lela Bates Leftwich. in Buffalo Valley, TN. He had two brothers J.B. and Clifford Leftwich. His sister Christine Leftwich proceeded him in death as an infant before he was born. Clifford died in the late 1970s. Cass, Lela and Christine are buried at Odd Fellows Cemetary in Baxter, TN. He was known as Cottontop as a little boy (his hair was very blond). His Uncle and school teacher Dallas could not remember the nickname cottontop and renicknamed him Sheep. This nickname stayed with him throughout his adult life. Lillard's favorite pastimes were Racoon hunting and playing Rook Cards. He owned several hunting dogs. His best dog was Happy Jack. Lillard married Nell Jane Jernigan on September 25, 1943. They had one daughter (Nelda Sue Leftwich Crisp), and three sons Lillard David, Donald Lewis, and Allen Dale. He served in the U. S. Army during WW2 at Ft. Oglthorp, GA as a German POW guard. He lived on the Dyer Ridge Rd on the North side of Baxter, TN from the early 1960s until 1979. Lillard and Nell divorced in September of 1979. He then moved to Dixon Springs, TN until the time of his death. He worked for the Keen Corp (Cookeville)and TVA Hartsville nuclear plant construction in the 1970s. He was a security guard for the zinc mines in Carthage, TN when he died. His cause of death was a massive heart attack. He died at the Lebanon, TN. hospital while being transported by ambulance in route to Nashville.

A song for you Daddy from Mike and the Mechanics "Living years" Written by B.A. Robertson and Mike Rutherford.

Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door
I know that I'm a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I'm afraid that's all we've got
You say you just don't see it
He says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defence
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts
So Don't yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different day
And if you don't give up, and don't give in
You may just be O.K.
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
I wasn't there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn't get to tell him
All the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo
In my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye

Song by Mike and the Mechanics "Living Years" Written by B.A. Robertson and Mike Rutherford