On Monday, the Obama campaign announced that Barack Obama’s maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, had died at the age of eighty-six. Dunham lived in Hawaii, where she helped raise Obama during his teenage years. In a statement, Obama and his sister described their grandmother as the cornerstone of the family and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength and humility. Last night, Senator Obama briefly spoke about her at a rally in Charlottesville, North Carolina.

Sen. Obama: “She was one of those quiet heroes that we have all across America, who they’re not famous, their names aren’t in the newspapers, but each and every day they work hard, they look after their families.”