Madelyn Dunham

Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham (/ˈdʌnəm/ DUN-əm; October 26, 1922 – November 2, 2008) was the American maternal grandmother of Barack Obama, the 44th and current President of the United States. She and her husband Stanley Armour Dunham raised Obama from age ten in their Honolulu, Hawaii apartment, where on November 2, 2008, she died two days before her grandson was elected President.

Early life

Madelyn Lee Payne was born in Peru, Kansas, the eldest of four children of Rolla Charles "R.C." Payne (August 23, 1892 – October 15, 1968) and Leona Belle (McCurry) Payne (May 7, 1897 – March 22, 1968). In Barack Obama's memoir, Dreams From My Father, he describes them as "stern Methodist parents who did not believe in drinking, playing cards, or dancing." She moved with her parents to Augusta, Kansas at the age of three. Madelyn was an honor roll student and one of the best students at Augusta High School, where she graduated in 1940. Despite her strict upbringing, she liked to go to Wichita, Kansas to see big band concerts. While in Wichita, she met Stanley Dunham from El Dorado, Kansas, and the two married on May 5, 1940, the night of Madelyn's senior prom.