Obama's Grandmother Dies After Battle With Cancer
By AMY CHOZICK
Charlotte, North Carolina—Sen. Barack Obama's grandmother died Sunday night, just hours before a presidential election in which her grandson could become the first African-American to win the nation's highest office.
"It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer," Sen. Obama and his half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng said in a joint statement Monday afternoon.
Sen. Barack Obama cries while speaking about his grandmother during a rally at University of North Carolina on Monday.
A campaign aide said the 86-year-old Mrs. Dunham died late Sunday night at her home in Honolulu. Sen. Obama found out about her death early Monday morning.
Sen. Obama, looking visibly upset at a Charlotte rally, called the end of his long campaign "bittersweet." He paid tribute to the woman who helped raise him.
"Some of you heard that my grandmother who helped raise me passed away early this morning," he said. "I'm not going to talk about it too long because it's hard for me to talk about."
He went on to tell the crowd that Ms. Dunham was born in 1922 in a small Kansas town. He said she lived through the Great Depression and two World Wars.
"She was one of those quiet heroes that we have all across America, they're not famous, their names aren't in the newspaper but each and every day they work hard, they look after their families, they sacrifice for their children and their grandchildren," he said.
In the statement, Sen. Obama called his grandmother "the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances" and said his "debt to her is beyond measure." Last month, as his grandmother's health deteriorated, the Illinois Democrat took time off the campaign trail to visit her in Hawaii.
Sen. Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and a Kansas-born mother, was largely reared by his maternal grandparents. He called his grandmother "Toot," short for "tutu," the Hawaiian word for grandmother. Sen. Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, died of ovarian cancer in 1995 at the age of 57, and his grandfather, Stanley Dunham, died in 1992.
Republican nominee John McCain and his wife, Cindy, issued a statement expressing their sympathy. "We offer our deepest condolences to Barack Obama and his family as they grieve the loss of their beloved grandmother," the McCains said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to them as they remember and celebrate the life of someone who had such a profound impact in their lives."
Sen. Obama thanked the McCains and called the statement "incredibly gracious."
In April, Ms. Dunham who largely avoided the media glare, appeared in a campaign ad in which she said her grandson has "a lot of depth and a broadness of view."
Ms. Dunham is known among Sen. Obama's friends and advisers as a tough Midwestern woman who never doted on her grandson.
In a September interview with late-night talk-show host David Letterman, Sen. Obama called his grandmother "the rock of our family."
"But she has a very subdued sort of Midwestern attitude about these things. So when I got nominated [for president] she called and said, 'That's nice, Barry, that's nice,'" Sen. Obama told Mr. Letterman.
When Sen. Obama returned from Hawaii last week he thanked crowds for the outpouring of support they had shown his grandmother, a sentiment echoed on Monday.
"Our family wants to thank all of those who sent flowers, cards, well-wishes, and prayers during this difficult time. It brought our grandmother and us great comfort," Sen. Obama and Ms. Ng said in the statement.
A small private funeral service will be held later this month, according to the Obama campaign.
Source:The Wall Street Journal
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