Marian Robinson, mother of former First Lady Michelle Obama and basketball executive Craig Robinson, passed away Friday at 86 years old. The Chicago-born woman worked as a secretary and executive assistant before moving to the White House with her daughter and son in-law. She built a reputation during Barack Obama’s presidential campaign as being a rock to the family. Often described as being humble and family oriented, the former president once called her “the least pretentious person I know.”
“She grew up one of seven children on the red-lined South Side of Chicago, the daughter of Purnell Shields and Rebecca Jumper,” a statement from Barack and Michelle Obama, Kelly and Craig Robinson, and the couples’ children, read. “She learned early that even in the face of hardship, there was music to be found.”
Craig and Michelle grew up in the same Chicago neighborhood, raised by Marian and her husband Fraser, a Democratic municipal official who passed in 1991.
“Every night, for years on end, she and Fraser would hold court at the dinner table, where they indulged all manner of questioning, teaching their children to believe in the power and worth of their own voices,” the statement read.
The two children were pushed to great heights by their mother, both attending Princeton University for their undergraduate degrees, with Michelle attending Harvard Law School.
“When Craig decided to leave a lucrative finance job to pursue his dream of coaching basketball, she was there with her wholehearted support,” the family said. Craig is currently the Executive Director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, a body representing college men's basketball coaches.
“When Michelle married a guy crazy enough to go into politics, she was just as encouraging,” the statement said. “At every step, as our families went down paths none of us could have predicted, she remained our refuge from the storm, keeping our feet on solid ground.”
Robinson, who spent her 8-year stint in the White House taking care of First Daughters Sasha and Malia, rarely taking a public spotlight, moved back to Chicago in 2017, where she reconnected with old friends
Robinson watched earlier this month when the Obamas announced that an exhibit documenting the White House in the Obama Presidential Center Museum would be dedicated to her in a Mothers’ Day video.
“There was and will be only one Marian Robinson. In our sadness, we are lifted up by the extraordinary gift of her life. And we will spend the rest of ours trying to live up to her example,” the family wrote.
Read the full tribute here.
