Marian Robinson, Michelle Obama’s Mother, Dies At 86 | EUROtoday

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

Mrs. Robinson’s demise was introduced by Michelle Obama and different members of the family in an announcement that mentioned “there was and will be only one Marian Robinson. In our sadness, we are lifted up by the extraordinary gift of her life.”

She was a widow and lifelong Chicago resident when she moved to the manager mansion in 2009 to assist take care of 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 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,” Mrs. Robinson wrote within the foreword to “A Game of Character,” a memoir by her son, previously the top males’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 mentioned.

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 take a look at one thing new. As a compromise, she agreed to maneuver, at the very least quickly.

Granddaughters Malia and Sasha had been simply 10 and seven, respectively, when the White House turned house in 2009. In Chicago, Mrs. Robinson had turn out to be virtually a surrogate father or mother to the ladies in the course of the 2008 presidential marketing campaign. She retired from her job as a financial institution secretary to assist shuttle them round.

At the White House, 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 attainable for her to accompany them to and from faculty day by day with out fanfare.

“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, allowing me the freedom to be who I am, while never allowing my feet to get too far off the ground. Her boundless love for my girls, and her willingness to put our needs before her own, gave me the comfort and confidence to venture out into the world knowing they were safe and cherished at home.”

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

She attended some White House occasions, together with concert events, the annual Easter Egg Roll and National Christmas Tree lighting, and a few state dinners.

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

Her first flight in another country was aboard Air Force 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 received to fulfill Pope Benedict, tour Rome’s historical Colosseum and consider 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. Without rationalization, Craig Robinson mentioned his mom gave the connection six months.

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

One of seven kids, 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, harassed the significance of training to her kids. Both had been educated at Ivy League colleges, every with a bachelor’s diploma from Princeton. Michelle Obama additionally has a regulation diploma from Harvard.

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