Marian Robinson, mother of Michelle Obama, dies at 86

WASHINGTON (AP) — Marian Shields Robinson, the mom of Michelle Obama who moved with the primary household to the White Home when son-in-law Barack Obama was elected president, has died. She was 86.

Mrs. Robinson’s dying was introduced by Michelle Obama and different members of the family in a press release that stated “there was and can be just one Marian Robinson. In our disappointment, we’re lifted up by the extraordinary reward of her life.”

She was a widow and lifelong Chicago resident when she moved to the chief mansion in 2009 to assist look after granddaughters Malia and Sasha. In her early 70s, Mrs. Robinson initially resisted the concept of beginning over in Washington, and Michelle Obama needed to enlist her brother, Craig, to assist persuade their mom to maneuver.

“There have been many good and legitimate causes that Michelle raised with me, not the least of which was the chance to proceed spending time with my granddaughters, Malia and Sasha, and to help in giving them a way of normalcy that could be a precedence for each of their dad and mom, as has been from the time Barack started his political profession,” Mrs. Robinson wrote within the foreword to “A Recreation of Character,” a memoir by her son, previously the top males’s basketball coach at Oregon State College.

“My feeling, nonetheless, was that I might go to periodically with out truly shifting in and nonetheless be there for the ladies,” she stated.

Mrs. Robinson wrote that her son understood why she wished to remain in Chicago however nonetheless used a line of reasoning on her that she typically used on him and his sister. He requested her to see the transfer as an opportunity to develop and check out one thing new. As a compromise, she agreed to maneuver, at the least briefly.

Granddaughters Malia and Sasha have been simply 10 and seven, respectively, when the White Home grew to become dwelling in 2009. In Chicago, Mrs. Robinson had change into virtually a surrogate mother or father to the ladies throughout the 2008 presidential marketing campaign. She retired from her job as a financial institution secretary to assist shuttle them round.

On the White Home, Mrs. Robinson supplied a reassuring presence for the ladies as their dad and mom settled into their new roles, and her lack of Secret Service safety made it potential for her to accompany them to and from faculty day by day with out fanfare.

“I’d not be who I’m right now with out the regular hand and unconditional love of my mom, Marian Shields Robinson,” Michelle Obama wrote in her 2018 memoir, “Changing into.” “She has at all times been my rock, permitting me the liberty to be who I’m, whereas by no means permitting my ft to get too far off the bottom. Her boundless love for my ladies, and her willingness to place our wants earlier than her personal, gave me the consolation and confidence to enterprise out into the world realizing they have been protected and cherished at dwelling.”

Mrs. Robinson gave a couple of media interviews however by no means to White Home press. Aides guarded her privateness, and, as consequence, she loved a degree of anonymity brazenly envied by the president and first woman. It allowed her to return and go from the White Home as typically as she happy on buying runs round city, to the president’s field on the Kennedy Middle and for journeys to Las Vegas or to go to her different grandchildren in Portland, Oregon.

She attended some White Home occasions, together with live shows, the annual Easter Egg Roll and Nationwide Christmas Tree lighting, and a few state dinners.

White Home residency additionally opened up the world to Mrs. Robinson, who had been a widow for practically 20 years when she moved to a room on the third flooring of the White Home, one flooring above the primary household. She had by no means traveled outdoors the U.S. till she moved to Washington.

Her first flight overseas was aboard Air Pressure One in 2009 when the Obamas visited France. She joined the Obamas on a visit to Russia, Italy and Ghana later that 12 months, throughout which she obtained to satisfy Pope Benedict, tour Rome’s historic Colosseum and examine a former slave-holding compound on the African coast. She additionally accompanied her daughter and granddaughters on two abroad journeys with out the president: to South Africa and Botswana in 2011, and China in 2014.

Craig Robinson wrote within the memoir that he and his dad and mom doubted whether or not his sister’s relationship with Barack Obama would final, although Fraser Robinson III and his spouse thought the younger lawyer was a worthy suitor for his or her daughter, additionally a lawyer. With out clarification, Craig Robinson stated his mom gave the connection six months.

Barack and Michelle Obama have been married on Oct. 3, 1992.

One among seven youngsters, Marian Lois Shields Robinson was born in Chicago on July 30, 1937. She attended two years of educating school, married in 1960 and, as a stay-at-home mother, confused the significance of training to her youngsters. Each have been educated at Ivy League colleges, every with a bachelor’s diploma from Princeton. Michelle Obama additionally has a legislation diploma from Harvard.

Fraser Robinson was a pump operator for the Chicago Water Division who had a number of sclerosis. He died in 1991.

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