Obama’s Mother Dies: A statement from the family of former First Lady Michelle Obama and her mother Marian Robinson confirmed her passing. She was eighty-six.
The statement from Craig and Kelly Robinson, Barack and Michelle Obama, and their children noted, in part, that she was “loved beyond words by countless others whose lives were improved by her presence as a sister, aunt, cousin, neighbor, and friend to so many.”
The statement said, “She passed away peacefully this morning, and at this point, none of us are quite sure how exactly we’ll move on without her.”
“My mom Marian Robinson was my rock, always there for whatever I needed,” Michelle Obama said on social media. We are devastated to learn that she died away today since she was our family’s constant rock.
“There is only going to be one Marian Robinson. Her life is an exceptional gift that uplifts us in our pain. Barack Obama commented on X, “And we will try to live up to her example for the rest of our lives.”
During the Obamas’ tenure in the White House, Robinson resided with them and was often seen at events with the first family, such as giving goodie bags to Halloween trick-or-treaters.
“She was essential to us. Regarding her relocation to Washington, the family statement said that “the girls needed her.” And in the end, she proved to be our pillar of support.
Born in Chicago, where she went back to live after the Obamas left the White House, Robinson was wed to Fraser Robinson. Together, they had two kids, Craig and Michelle. Fraser Robinson battled multiple sclerosis for a long time before passing away in 1991.
The statement claims that Marian Robinson was very interested in her children’s schooling. Robinson was remembered by the family for having “given her children the strength and confidence to walk to school by teaching them to read at an early age, sitting together as they sounded out words on a page.” They also emphasized how she was there at a momentous occasion.
“She was there, holding his hand on Election Night in 2008, when the news broke that Barack would soon shoulder the weight of the world,” the statement said.
Former Obama senior advisor David Axelrod described Robinson as “just a great lady.”
Senior political analyst for CNN Axelrod said on Friday’s episode of “The Situation Room” that “she was a South Sider through and through” and that “she did not take to the whole celebrity lifestyle” while she was at the White House.
Rather, she would often leave the White House by herself to meet with friends, according to Axelrod. She wasn’t really trying to attract attention.
Years after the Obamas’ portraits were shown in 2018 at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Michelle Obama reflected on the significance of her mother’s response when she brought her to the museum after hours.
When the pictures were temporarily relocated to Chicago, she said, “It was] quiet and (I was) watching my mom, Marian Robinson, sit at the base of my portrait and look up at it with such a level of awe.”
Michelle Obama remarked, “And it meant the world to me to watch her see me in that way.”