Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson, passed away at the age of 86.
Her family released a statement stating that Robinson passed away on Friday morning “peacefully”.
Between 2009 and 2017, Robinson was a well-known presence at the White House under President Barack Obama’s eight-year administration.
The majority of that time was devoted to caring for her two granddaughters, Michelle and Barack Obama’s kids, Malia and Sasha.
Mrs. Obama spoke to her mother as her “rock, always there for whatever I needed” in a statement that was published on X, the former Twitter.
“She was the same steady backstop for our entire family, and we are heartbroken to share she passed away today,” she concluded.
Mr. Obama stated that “there was and will be only one Marian Robinson” in a different tweet.
He went on, “The incredible gift of her life lifts us up in our sadness.” “And we’ll strive to follow her example for the remainder of our lives.”
The cause of death was not disclosed in any greater detail.
Robinson, who was born in 1937, spent the majority of her childhood in Chicago as one of seven children until deciding to go to Washington, DC, following President Obama’s election.
She first pursued her career as a secretary while pursuing her studies to become a teacher. Along with her husband Frasier Robinson, she raised Craig and Michelle on Chicago’s South Side.
“On Election Night in 2008, when the news broke that Barack would soon shoulder the weight of the world, she was there, holding his hand.”
Pictured with her son-in-law that evening in 2008, when he became the country’s first African-American president, was Robinson curled up on a sofa with him, watching the results roll in.
The letter went on to say that Robinson had moved into the White House following a “healthy nudge” from Barack and Michelle Obama, who “needed her” for their girls.
Later on, she mentioned how she insisted on doing her own washing in that location.
Robinson stated that she feared her daughter and son-in-law will have a “very hard life” if they stay in Washington in an interview with CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
She went on, “And I was concerned for their safety.” “I was concerned for my grandchildren. I moved to Washington, DC, because of that.
When Jackie and the Obamas boarded Air Force One in 2009 to travel to France, the lifelong Chicagoan had just stepped off native aircraft.
Robinson, who Mr. Obama previously referred to as “the least pretentious person” he knew, stated that having White House staff take care of her needs was a “huge adjustment.”
“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 statement read.
“The only guest she made a point of asking to meet was the Pope,” it continued.
The rest of her family envied her independence because of her privacy. Senior Obama advisor David Axelrod said to CNN on Friday that “she would often slip out of the White House on her own and visit with friends.”
He went on, “She wasn’t seeking attention.”
A few weeks prior to Robinson’s passing, on Mother’s Day, Mrs. Obama declared that an exhibit at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago would bear her name.
“She taught me to think for myself, which in so many ways helped me develop a deep sense of confidence in who I was and who I could be,” Mrs. Obama stated in a video statement.
“I simply wouldn’t be who I am today without my mom.”