Madelyn Payne Dunham, the maternal grandmother of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, died Monday at the age of 86 after a battle with cancer, his campaign announced Monday. The Illinois senator has called his grandmother one of the "cornerstones" of his life.
Barack Obama's grandmother has died two days before the presidential election.
She played a central figure in his life. He lived with her and his grandfather in their two-bedroom apartment during most of his childhood in Hawaii.
The Obama campaign released this statement from Obama and his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng on the death of their grandmother:
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Obama 's Grandma Toot
Obama 's Mother Ann Dunham
Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro (November 29, 1942 – November 7, 1995), known as Ann Dunham, and later as Ann Sutoro[1] was an anthropologist who specialized in rural development. Born in Kansas, Dunham spent her teenage years in Mercer Island near Seattle, Washington, and much of her adult life in Hawaii. She is the mother of United States Senator and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.[2]
Ann Dunham was born in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas[3] while her father was in the Army.[4] She was named after her father,[3] who reportedly gave his daughter and only child his name because he had wanted a boy; however, she was referred to as "Ann."[5]
Her parents, Stanley Armour Dunham and Madelyn Dunham, met in Wichita, Kansas, and married on May 5, 1940.[6] She had Cherokee, English and Irish heritage from her parents. She was a distant cousin of Vice President Dick Cheney.[7]
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Obama visits grandmother
Obama heads to bedside of ailing grandmother
Obama on the Race and his Grandmother