Marian Lois Robinson is the mother of Michelle Obama, the former First Lady of the United States, and basketball executive Craig Robinson. She was former US President Barack Obama’s mother-in-law.
Marian Shields was born in Chicago on July 30, 1937, as the fourth of seven siblings—five sisters, two brothers—to Purnell Nathaniel Shields, a house painter and carpenter, and his wife Rebecca Jumper, a licensed practical nurse. Her parents eventually separated. Both parents had multiracial ancestry.
She Died Peacefully
In a statement, the former first lady, her brother, Craig Robinson, and their families announced that she passed away peacefully on Friday. “There was and will be only one Marian Robinson,” the two individuals stated. “The extraordinary gift of her life lifts us up in our sorrow.” We will dedicate the remainder of our lives to emulate her.
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Mrs. Robinson was not only the mother of the nation’s first Black first lady, but she was also one of the few in-laws to reside at the White House with the president and his immediate family.
Mrs. Robinson had resided in Chicago for her entire existence prior to January 2009. The notion of starting over in Washington was resisted by her, as she was a widow in her early 70s when Obama was elected in 2008. The family recommended that she spend three months in Washington before making a decision, according to President Obama. The first lady requested her brother’s assistance in convincing their mother to relocate.
A Closer Look Into Robinson’s Personal Life
Shields married Fraser Robinson III on October 27, 1960 in Chicago. They have two children together: Craig Malcolm and Michelle LaVaughn, named after Fraser’s mother. Fraser died of multiple sclerosis in 1991.
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Robinson has worked as a secretary for mail-order store Spiegel, the University of Chicago, and a bank. Shields and her family resided in a rented second-floor apartment on the South Side of Chicago, owned by her aunt Robbie and her husband Terry.
She raised her two children, Michelle and Craig, and lived here until she went to the White House with the Obamas. Michelle Obama’s book Becoming emphasizes her mother’s strong devotion to her Chicago house and her determination to raise her children as a stay-at-home mother. Shields returned to work as an executive assistant at a bank after her daughter Michelle started high school.
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