In Memoriam : Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson, dies at 86

Marian Robinson, the mother of former first lady Michelle Obama, has passed away, according to a statement from the Obama and Robinson families. She was 86.

Statement on Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson’s passing

“As a sister, aunt, cousin, neighbor, and friend to so many, she was beloved beyond words by countless others whose lives were improved by her presence,” the statement from Barack and Michelle Obama, Craig and Kelly Robinson, and their children said in part.

Michelle Obama posted on X (formerly Twitter), “My mom Marian Robinson was my rock, always there for whatever I needed. She was the same steady backstop for our entire family, and we are heartbroken to share she passed away today.”

Life in Chicago

Born Marian Lois Shields in 1937 in Chicago’s South Side, she grew up in a small house as one of seven siblings.
She married Fraser Robinson III, a pump operator for Chicago’s water department, in 1960, and they had two children – Craig in 1962 and Michelle two years later. Robinson worked as a secretary and for a bank before becoming a stay-at-home mother.

She was a proud mother, who ensured her children Craig and Michelle, had the best.

“We just wanted our children to understand that a good education was their ticket to a better life, a chance to have more and be more,” Robinson once said.

After 31 years of marriage, Fraser Robinson III died in 1991. Marian stayed living in the family home in Chicago until her daughter enlisted her help in the executive mansion.

First grandma

In 2009, the widowed Robinson moved to the White House, reluctant at first, to help care for granddaughters Malia and Sasha. She was reserved and rarely gave interviews – her daughter, Michelle Obama, once described her as a “sweet, witty companion who doesn’t need the limelight”.

She played a unique and vital role during her time in the mansion. Affectionately known as “first grandma”, she brought some normalcy to the lives of her granddaughters, Malia and Sasha.

In 2019, Barack Obama said: “I’ve always appreciated her steadiness, her perspective, and the way a wisecrack from her reverberates around the room.”

After the White House, she returned to Chicago, reconnecting with longtime friends, trading wise-cracks, traveling, and enjoying a good glass of wine.

“She passed peacefully this morning, and right now, none of us are quite sure how exactly we’ll move on without her,” the Obama and Robinson families said.