Marian Shields Robinson, Michelle Obama’s mother who moved to the White House when her son-in-law Barack Obama was elected president, has died. She was 86 years old.
Mrs. Robinson’s death was announced by Michelle Obama and other family members in a statement saying that “there was and will only be one Marian Robinson. In our sadness, she encourages us with the extraordinary gift of her life.”
She was a widow and lifelong Chicago resident when she moved to the executive mansion in 2009 to help care for her granddaughters Malia and Sasha. In her early 70s, Ms. Robinson initially resisted the idea of starting over in Washington, and Michelle Obama had to ask her brother, Craig, to help persuade her 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 help give them a sense of normality that is a priority for both of their parents, as they has been since Barack began his political career,” Mrs. Robinson wrote in the foreword to “A Game of Character,” the memoir of her son, who coached the men’s basketball team at Oregon State University.
“However, I thought I could visit them periodically without having to move and still be there for the girls,” she said.
Mrs. Robinson wrote that her son understood why she wanted to stay in Chicago, but she still used reasoning she often used with him and his sister. She asked him to see the change as an opportunity to grow and try something new. She relented and agreed to move, at least temporarily.
Granddaughters Malia and Sasha were just 10 and 7, respectively, when the White House became their home in 2009. In Chicago, Mrs. Robinson had become almost a surrogate mother to the girls during the 2008 presidential campaign. She retired from her job as a bank secretary to help transport them from one place to another.
“I would not be who I am today without the steady hand and unconditional love of my mother, Marian Shields Robinson,” Michelle Obama wrote in her 2018 memoir, “Becoming.” “She has always been my rock, giving me the freedom to be who I am, and at the same time never allowing my feet to stray too far from the ground. Her boundless love for my daughters, and her willingness to put our needs above hers, gave me the comfort and confidence to venture out into the world knowing that they were safe and loved in home “.
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