Former US first lady, Michelle Obama has lost her mother, Marian Shields Robinson on Friday at the age of 86.
When son-in-law Barack Obama was elected president, he moved Robinson to the White House.
As an informal first grandmother to the Obama children, Robinson’s death was announced in an online tribute by Michelle Obama, and included details of the time Robinson spent living in the White House.
The statement said, “There was and will be only one Marian Robinson,”
“In our sadness, we are lifted up by the extraordinary gift of her life.”
Robinson, who was a widow and lifelong Chicago resident when she moved to the executive mansion in 2009 helped care for granddaughters Malia and Sasha, The Guardian reports.
In her early 70s, Robinson initially resisted the idea of starting over in Washington, and Michelle Obama had to enlist her brother, Craig, to help persuade their mother to move.
“There were many good and valid reasons that Michelle raised with me, not the least of which was the opportunity to continue spending time with my granddaughters, Malia and Sasha, and to assist in giving them a sense of normalcy that is a priority for both of their parents, as has been from the time Barack began his political career,” Robinson wrote in the foreword to A Game of Character, a memoir by her son, formerly the head men’s basketball coach at Oregon State University.
“My feeling, however, was that I could visit periodically without actually moving in and still be there for the girls,” she said.
