Barack Obama has paid tribute to his personal chef Tafari Campbell after he tragically died in a paddleboarding accident in the water close to the former president’s home in Martha’s Vineyard.
Police in Edgartown, Massachusetts, confirmed on Monday morning that the search for a then-unidentified African American man, 45, had been called off after a body was recovered from the town’s Great Pond.
Officials later named the man as Campbell, who had worked for the Obamas at the White House and then joined the family as their personal chef afterwards. Police said neither Mr Obama nor his wife Michelle were at home when Campbell died.
“Tafari was a beloved part of our family,” the Obama family said in a statement about his passing. “Our hearts are broken that he’s gone... we join everyone who knew and loved Tafari, especially his wife Sherise and their twin boys, Xavier and Savin, in grieving the loss of a truly wonderful man.”
Campbell’s Instagram account described him as a keen golfer, with numerous photos of finely-presented dishes, videos of him golfing and practicing swimming, and loving pictures of him and his wife together.
