86-year-old mother-in-law of former President Barack Obama has died. Marian Robinson was the mother of former First Lady Michelle Obama and the grandmother of Avery, Leslie, Malia, Sasha, Austin, and Aaron.
Family Issues First Statement
“Marian Robinson passed peacefully this morning, and right now, none of us are quite sure how exactly we’ll move on without her,” The family statement is from Michelle and Barack Obama; Craig Robinson and his wife, Kelly; and Marian Robinson’s grandchildren, Avery, Leslie, Malia, Sasha, Austin, and Aaron, according to NBC.
Barack Obama Mourns
“We needed her. The girls needed her. And she ended up being our rock through it all. She relished her role as a grandmother. … And although she enforced whatever household rules we’d set for bedtime, watching TV, or eating candy, she made clear that she sided with her ‘grandbabies’ in thinking that their parents were too darn strict,” the family statement reads. There was and will be only one Marian Robinson. In our sadness, we are lifted by the extraordinary gift of her life. And we will spend the rest of ours trying to live up to her example.”
Who Was Marian Robinson?
Marian Robinson was born in Chicago in 1937. She was raised in Chicago’s South Side where she raised her daughter Michelle and son, Craig Robinson. She was married to Fraser Robinson, who died in 1991 from sclerosis. Robinson lived in Chicago her entire life, she agreed to move to Washington, D.C., in 2009 to live in the White House residence and help take care of her granddaughters, who were seven and 10 years old at the time.
“In so many ways she fostered in me a deep sense of confidence in who I was and who I could be by teaching me how to think for myself, how to use my voice, and how to understand my own worth,” the former first lady said in a video announcement. “I simply wouldn’t be who I am today without my mom.”
Robinson became known to Americans as the country’s first grandmother after her son-in-law, Barack Obama, won the 2008 presidential election. She was a fixture in the White House during his eight years in office, though she kept a low profile. She attended holiday events, the occasional overseas trip and concerts in the East Room. But most often she was with her granddaughters, Sasha and Malia, Having lived in Chicago her entire life, Robinson agreed to move to Washington, D.C., in 2009 to live in the White House residence and help take care of her granddaughters, who were seven and 10 years old at the time, according to NBC.
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