Michelle Obama’s Mother Marian Shields Robinson Dead at 86

The Obamas are in mourning.

Marian Shields Robinson—the mom of former First Lady Michelle Obama and the grandmother of her and former President Barack Obama‘s kids Malia, 25, and Sasha, 22—died on the morning of May 31. She was 86.

“Marian Lois Shields Robinson—our mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother—had a way of summing up the truths about life in a word or two, maybe a quick phrase that made everyone around her stop and think,” the family said in a statement shared to their social media accounts May 31. “Her wisdom came off as almost innate, as something she was born with, but in reality it was hard-earned, fashioned by her deep understanding that the world’s roughest edges could always be sanded down with a little grace.”

They continued, “As a mother, she was our backstop, a calm and nonjudgmental witness to our triumphs and stumbles. She was always, always there, welcoming us back home no matter how far we had journeyed, with that deep and abiding love.”