Obama’s grandmother dies

Barack Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, who played a central role in his life, died in Hawaii early today.

Dunham, who turned 86 last week, had been suffering from cancer, as well as injuries from a recent fall. Two weeks ago, the Illinois senator made the decision to leave the campaign trail to say goodbye to the woman who had helped raise him and whom he called “Toot” - short for Tutu, Hawaiian for grandmother.

“It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer,” Obama said in a statement with his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng.

“She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances.”

Although Dunham was too ill to see her grandson accept the Democratic nomination in Denver this summer, she is said to have followed his progress daily on CNN. He dedicated his acceptance speech to her.

Dunham helped raise Obama after the collapse of her daughter Ann’s marriage to a Kenyan graduate student, and again, during his teen-age years when her daughter remarried and moved to Indonesia.

“She was proud of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and left this world with the knowledge that her impact on all of us was meaningful and enduring,” Obama and Soetoro-Ng said in the statement. “Our debt to her is beyond measure.”

Obama has described Dunham as a devoted grandparent and a trailblazer, who worked on a Boeing aircraft B-29 assembly line during World War II, and later became one of the first female vice presidents at the Bank of Hawaii. He has attributed his toughness and pragmatism to traits she passed onto him.

Campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Obama learned of his grandmother’s death a little after 8 a.m. in Jacksonville, Fla., where he had spent the evening. He said that Dunham died late Sunday evening on Hawaii Standard Time, which was between 4 and 5 a.m. EST.

Here are Obama’s public comments about Dunham at a campaign stop in Raleigh, NC:

Tweet This! Share on Facebook

Click here to sign up for the Muckety Newsletter

• Obama cancels campaign events to visit ailing grandmother - October 21, 2008
• Obama pays homage to ‘Toot,’ his grandmother, also a trailblazer - June 4, 2008
• Muck tracker - Barack Obama’s Kenyan grandmother to attend swearing-in - January 13, 2009
• Muck tracker - Obama’s half-sister has a book deal - April 2, 2009
• Obama’s push for ethics bill played role in case against Blagojevich - December 10, 2008
• James Johnson resigns from Obama’s VP search team - June 11, 2008
• Joe Biden is Obama’s pick for vice president - August 23, 2008
• Silicon Valley startup mentality boosted Obama’s campaign - May 9, 2008
• David Plouffe is unseen hand behind Obama’s winning campaign - June 18, 2008
• Focus on the Family Action pulls video asking God to rain on Obama’s parade - August 13, 2008