‘She was our rock through it all’: Michelle Obama’s mother Marian Robinson dies aged 86 as family pay tribute
1 June 2024, 10:47
Michelle Obama’s mother Marian Robinson has died aged 86, her family has announced.
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Ms Robinson died peacefully on Friday, the former US first lady and her brother, Craig Robinson, and their families announced in a statement on Friday morning.
The statement read: "There was and will be only one Marian Robinson.
“In our sadness, we are lifted up by the extraordinary gift of her life. And we will spend the rest of ours trying to live up to her example."
Known as the ‘First Grandma’ during Barack Obama’s eight years in the White House and was one of the few in-laws who lived there with the former president and his immediate family.
Until January 2009, Mrs Robinson had lived her entire life in Chicago.
She was in her early 70s when Barack Obama was elected in 2008 and resisted the idea of starting over in Washington.
“With a healthy nudge, she agreed to move to the White House with Michelle and Barack,” the family statement read.
“We needed her. The girls needed her. And she ended up being our rock through it all.”
Ms Robinson was one of seven children and her parents separated when she was a teenager.
She enjoyed a level of anonymity that the president and first lady openly envied, allowing her to come and go from the White House as often as she pleased on shopping trips around town.
In a statement posted by her daughter Michelle, she wrote: “My mom Marian Robinson was my rock, always there for whatever I needed. She was the same steady backstop for our entire family, and we are heartbroken to share she passed away today.”
Ms Robinson gave a few media interviews but never to White House press.
Besides the Obama family, Mrs Robinson is survived by her son, Craig, his wife, Kelly, and their children Avery, Austin, Aaron and Leslie.
