Obama's Grandmother Loses Battle With Cancer

Madelyn Dunham passes away at 86 on eve of historic election
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 3, 2008 3:52 PM CST
Obama's Grandmother Loses Battle With Cancer
Barack Obama in 1979 during his high school graduation in Hawaii with his maternal grandmother and grandfather, Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham and Stanley Armour Dunham.   (AP Photo/Obama Presidential Campaign)

On the eve of Election Day, Barack Obama's maternal grandmother died today in Honolulu after a long struggle with cancer. Madelyn Dunham, who helped raise Obama, had been in hospice care, the Chicago Tribune reports. The senator and his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng released a statement calling their 86-year-old grandmother "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," the statement continued. "We will respect her wish for a small private ceremony to be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation to any worthy organization in search of a cure for cancer."
(More Election 2008 stories.)

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