Michelle Obama’s mom Marian Robinson dies at age 86 after becoming White House fixture as Barack pays touching tribute
MICHELLE Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson, died on Friday morning at the age of 86.
The family shared a statement revealing that Robinson died peacefully.
“As a mother, she was our backstop, a calm and nonjudgmental witness to our triumphs and stumbles,” the statement read.
“She was always, always there, welcoming us back home no matter how far we had journeyed, with that deep and abiding love.”
Robinson was known in the US as the first grandmother after her son-in-law, Barack Obama, secured the presidency in 2008.
In a separate statement, Michelle Obama described her mother as her rock.
“Always there for whatever I needed,” she tweeted.
“She was the same steady backstop for our entire family, and we are heartbroken to share she passed away today.”
Robinson was a prominent fixture in the White House during both of Obama’s terms, however, she kept a low profile.
She attended holiday events and concerts in the East Room while traveling overseas on trips.
However, she mostly spent her time with her granddaughters, Sasha and Malia.
“We will all miss her greatly, and we wish she were here to offer us some perspective, to mend our heavy hearts with a laugh and a dose of her wisdom,” read the statement from the family.
“Yet we are comforted by the understanding that she has returned to the embrace of her loving Fraser, that she’s pulled up her TV tray next to his recliner, that they’re clinking their highball glasses as she’s catching him up with the stories about this wild, beautiful ride. She’s missed him so.”
DOTING MATRIARCH
Robinson lived in Chicago her entire life but agreed to move to Washington DC in 2009 to help take care of her young granddaughters in the White House.
“We needed her. The girls needed her. And she ended up being our rock through it all,” read the family‘s tribute.
“She relished her role as a grandmother to Malia and Sasha — just as she doted on Avery, Leslie, Austin, and Aaron.”
Born in Chicago in 1937, Robinson grew up in the city’s South Side, where she raised her children, Michelle and Craig Robinson.
In 1960, she married Fraser C. Robinson III, who died from multiple sclerosis in 1991.
The transition from the South Side to the White House was a big one for Robinson, who was not used to being waited on.
She often had to convince staff members to let her do her own chores, such as her laundry.
“Rather than hobnobbing with Oscar winners or Nobel laureates, she preferred spending her time upstairs with a TV tray, in the room outside her bedroom with big windows that looked out at the Washington Monument,” the family said.
“The only guest she made a point of asking to meet was the Pope.”
TOUCHING TRIBUTES
Several tributes poured in for Robinson, including one from 39-time Grand Slam winner, Billie Jean King.
“Sending our deepest condolences to the Obama family today upon the passing of Marian Robinson, the Former First Lady’s mother,” King wrote.
“I had the privilege of spending some one-on-one time with her at the US Open’s Arthur Ashe Kids Day in 2013.
“May she rest in peace.”
Mia Farrow wrote: “My family send our love. We are so very sorry for your loss.”