Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, the grandmother of former President Barack Obama, passed away at the age of 99 after a brief illness that sources close to the family say were not COVID related.
The news came from Sarah’s daughter who said her mother died in a hospital in the city of Kisumu in Kenya after being sick for a week.
My family and I are mourning the loss of our beloved grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, affectionately known to many as “Mama Sarah” but known to us as “Dani” or Granny. We will miss her dearly, but we’ll celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life. pic.twitter.com/avDY4f1PVu
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 29, 2021
The matriarch of the Obama family was the second wife of Barack’s grandfather and had a passion for raising money for the education of girls and orphans in Kenya and even has a foundation that feeds and educates children who’ve lost their parents.
During her grandson’s time in the White House, Mama Sarah became somewhat of a celebrity in Africa and even attended Barack’s inauguration in 2009.
Barack often references her in his memoir, calling her “Granny” and referencing a trip when they first met in the ’80s.
The President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, made a statement on Mama Sarah’s passing, saying, “The passing away of Mama Sarah is a big blow to our nation. We’ve lost a strong, virtuous woman. A matriarch who held together the Obama family and was an icon of family values.”
Her former president grandson tweeted about her death, saying, My family and I are mourning the loss of our beloved grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, affectionately known to many as “Mama Sarah” but known to us as “Dani” or Granny. We will miss her dearly, but we’ll celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life.”
