By Shailagh Murray, The Washington Post

A tragic turn of events for Sen. Barack Obama: his ailing grandmother died today. Here’s a statement from Obama and his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng:

It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer. 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. 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. Our debt to her is beyond measure.

Our family wants to thank all of those who sent flowers, cards, well-wishes, and prayers during this difficult time. It brought our grandmother and us great comfort. Our grandmother was a private woman, and 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.

WASHINGTON (CBS) ― The grandmother of Democratic candidate Barack Obama has died.

Obama flew to Hawaii at the end of October to visit Madelyn Dunham, 85, who helped raise the presidential nominee.

“Without going through the details too much, she’s gravely ill. We weren’t sure and I’m still not sure whether she makes it to Election Day,” Obama told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in an interview before his trip to Hawaii..

“We’re all praying and we hope she does, but one of the things I want to make sure of is I had a chance to sit down with her and to talk to her. She’s still alert and she’s still got all her faculties. And I want to make sure that I don’t miss that opportunity,” he said.

Obama has said he missed a chance to visit his mother just before she died of ovarian cancer – she was 53 when she died in 1995 – and didn’t want to repeat that mistake. Dunham, whose birthday is Sunday, was staying at her Honolulu apartment.

Obama was born in Hawaii. His Kansas-born mother and Kenyan father met as college students there, but Dunham and her husband, Stanley, raised Obama for extended periods when his mother lived overseas.

In his memoir “Dreams from My Father,” Obama described his grandfather as something of a dreamer. It was his grandmother who was practical enough to support the family by working her way up in the ranks at a local bank.

Obama has often mentioned “Toot” – his version of the Hawaiian word “tutu,” or grandparent – as an example of a strong woman succeeding through intelligence and determination. Many of his speeches describe her working on a bomber assembly line during World War II.

“She’s really been one of the cornerstones of my life. She’s a remarkable woman,” he said.

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