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First lady Michelle Obama, left, and her mother Marian Robinson at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 6, 2012.

Then-first lady Michelle Obama (left) and her mother, Marian Robinson, attend the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in 2012. Former President Barack Obama delivered the eulogy at Marian Robinson’s memorial service Monday.

Charles Dharapak/AP

Former President Barack Obama gives eulogy for mother-in-law Marian Robinson at South Side memorial service

The service was a celebration of Mrs. Robinson’s life, according to the office of the former president and former first lady Michelle Obama.

WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama on Monday delivered the eulogy for his mother-in-law, Marian Lois Shields Robinson, at a memorial service at the South Shore Cultural Center.

The service was a celebration of her life, according to the office of the former president and former first lady Michelle Obama.

Though the service was not on her schedule, first lady Jill Biden flew to Chicago to attend. Mrs. Robinson moved into the White House at the beginning of Obama’s first term and was a familiar figure to then-Vice President Joe Biden and his wife.

Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, delivered a “joint welcome.”

The location was meaningful. Obama wed Michelle Robinson at the South Shore Cultural Center, not far from where Mrs. Robinson and her husband, Fraser, raised their family in a small apartment at 7436 S. Euclid.

Mrs. Robinson died in Chicago on May 31. She was 86.

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