Former First Lady Michelle Obama announced Friday afternoon that her mother, Marian Shields Robinson, passed away at the age of 86-years-old.
Michelle Obama noted in a post on Twitter from her and former President Barack Obama that Robinson was “her rock” and was “always there for whatever I needed.”
“Marian Lois Shields Robinson — our mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother — had a way of summing up the truths about life in a word or two, maybe a quick phrase that made everyone around her stop and think. Her wisdom came off as almost innate, as something she was born with, but in reality it was hard-earned, fashioned by her deep understanding that the world’s roughest edges could always be sanded down with a little grace,” the Obamas and Robinsons wrote in a reflection of her life.
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. We wanted to offer some reflections on her remarkable life: https://t.co/F7T6q625PC
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) May 31, 2024
From the South Side of Chicago, Robinson was one of seven children and the daughter of Parnell Shields and Rebecca Jumper, according to the statement.
By October 1960 Robinson married Fraser Robinson, who passed away in 1991 and was described as “another South-Sider with a boxer’s strength and jazz-lover’s cool,” eventually giving birth to Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson.
“As a grandmother, at every stage of their lives, from infancy through adulthood, she stood secondary watch over her grandchildren’s growth and development, inspiring them, listening to them, telling them she was proud of them, making them feel loved, like they were remarkable in every way,” the statement reads.
“And 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. We will all miss her greatly, and we wish she were here to offer us some perspective, to mend our heavy hearts with a laugh and a dose of her wisdom.”
