Michelle Obama Honors Her Late Mother, Marian Robinson, After Her Death At 86

After Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson, died at age 86 last week, the former first lady honored her with a lengthy written tribute. 

Robinson was born in 1937 and grew up on Chicago’s South Side, one of seven children. She trained as a teacher before working as a bank secretary. She married Fraser Robinson, and they had two children, Michelle and Craig Robinson. Fraser died in 1991.

On May 31, Robinson’s death was announced by Michelle Obama and other family members in a statement in which they said that “there was and will be only one Marian Robinson” and that “in our sadness, we are lifted by the extraordinary gift of her life.”

“She passed peacefully this morning, and right now, none of us are quite sure how exactly we’ll move on without her,” the family’s statement also said. “We needed her. The girls needed her. And she ended up being our rock through it all.”

“As a mother, she was our backstop, a calm and nonjudgmental witness to our triumphs and stumbles,” the family said. “She was always, always there, welcoming us back home no matter how far we had journeyed, with that deep and abiding love.”

Michelle praised her mom in her memoir Becoming, published in 2018. 

“I would not be who I am today without the steady hand and unconditional love of my mother, Marian Shields Robinson,” the former first lady declared. “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 willingness to put our needs before hers gave me the comfort and confidence to venture out into the world knowing they were safe and cherished at home.”

The former first lady’s mother moved to the White House in 2009 to help look after her granddaughters, Malia and Sasha Obama. 

She had been a widow for almost 20 years when she moved to a room on the third floor of the White House, one floor above the first family. 

In her early 70s, she was initially against starting over in Washington, and Michelle had to enlist her brother to help convince their mother to move.

Robinson wrote that her son understood why she was hoping to stay in Chicago but still used a line of reasoning on her that she usually used on him and Michelle. He asked her to see the move as an opportunity to grow and try something different.

While in Chicago, Robinson became a surrogate parent to the girls during the 2008 presidential campaign. She even retired from her job as a bank secretary to help shuttle them around.

During her time at the White House, the former first lady’s mother offered a comforting presence for the girls as Barack Obama and Michelle settled into their new roles as president and first lady. Her lack of Secret Service protection made it possible for her to take them to and from school daily without any commotion.

Robinson gave a few media interviews but never gave any to the White House press. 

Aides protected her privacy, and because of that, she enjoyed a great deal of anonymity, openly envied by Barack and his wife. It helped her come and go from the White House as often as she pleased on errands around town, to the president’s box at the Kennedy Center, for vacations to Las Vegas, or to visit her other grandchildren in Portland, Oregon.

After Barack Obama’s second term, Robinson went to Chicago to reconnect “with longtime friends, trading wisecracks, traveling and enjoying a good glass of wine,” according to her family.

On June 1, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden released a statement stating that Robinson had been a “devoted mother and grandmother with a fierce and unconditional love of her family.”

“With the blessing of friendship, we felt that love ourselves – with every quiet smile or warm embrace she shared with us,” Joe and Jill stated. 

“She believed, as we do, that family is the beginning, middle and end,” they added. “She moved into the White House to be there for her family when they needed her the most, and in so doing, she served her country right alongside them. Her life is a reminder that we are a great nation because we are a good people.”

On May 13, 2018, Michelle went to X to post an old photo of her, Craig and their mother in honor of Mother’s Day.

The former first lady shared the photo despite her admitting that “it’s impossible for any picture to truly capture what [my] mother, Marian, has meant to [me].”