The mother of former US First Lady Michelle Obama, Marian Robinson, passed away at the age of 86.
Her family announced her peaceful passing on Friday morning.
Robinson was a familiar presence at the White House during Barack Obama’s presidency from 2009 to 2017.
She devoted much of her time to caring for her granddaughters, Malia and Sasha, the daughters of Michelle and Barack Obama.
In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Mrs Obama called her mother her “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,” she wrote.
In a separate tweet, Mr Obama said that “there was and will be only one Marian Robinson”.
“In our sadness, we are lifted up by the extraordinary gift of her life,” he added. “And we will spend the rest of ours trying to live up to her example.”
No additional information was provided regarding the cause of her passing.
Born in 1937, Robinson spent her formative years in Chicago as one of seven siblings. She pursued a career in education initially, later transitioning to work as a secretary.
Alongside her husband Frasier Robinson, she raised Michelle and their son, Craig, on Chicago’s South Side.
“At every step, as our families went down paths none of us could have predicted, she remained our refuge from the storm,” the Obama statement said.
“On Election Night in 2008, when the news broke that Barack would soon shoulder the weight of the world, she was there, holding his hand.”
An iconic image captured on the historic night in 2008, when her son-in-law made history as the nation’s first African-American president, depicted Robinson seated on a sofa alongside him, observing the unfolding election results.
According to the statement, Robinson made the decision to relocate to the White House after some persuasion from Barack and Michelle Obama, who, along with their daughters, expressed their need for her presence.
She later shared her insistence on handling her own laundry during her time there.
During an interview with CBS, the BBC’s US partner, Robinson expressed her belief that relocating to Washington was necessary, as she felt her daughter and son-in-law were facing a challenging path ahead.
“And I was worried about their safety,” she added. “I was worried about my grandkids. That’s what got me to move to DC.”
The lifelong Chicago resident had never boarded a flight out of the US until she flew aboard Air Force One with the Obamas to France in 2009.
Robinson – whom Mr Obama once called “the least pretentious person” he knew – said that it was a “huge adjustment” to have her needs met by White House staff.
“Rather than hobnobbing with Oscar winners or Nobel laureates, she preferred spending her time upstairs with a TV tray, in the room outside her bedroom with big windows that looked out at the Washington Monument,” the family statement said.
“The only guest she made a point of asking to meet was the Pope,” it added.
Her privacy afforded her a freedom envied by the rest of her family. David Axelrod, a senior Obama advisor, told CNN on Friday “she would often slip out of the White House on her own and visit with friends”.
“She really wasn’t looking for attention,” he added.
On Mother’s Day – just weeks before Robinson’s death – Mrs Obama announced that an exhibit at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago would be named in her honour.
“In so many ways, she fostered in me a deep sense of confidence in who I was and who I could be, by teaching me to think for myself,” Mrs Obama said in a video announcement.
“I simply wouldn’t be who I am today without my mom.”