Madelyn Dunham — now more famously known as Barack Obama's grandmother — will be remembered tomorrow at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, near niche No. 440, the site of her husband's ashes.
In August, Obama and his daughters walked up to Court 1, Wall B at Punchbowl and left two lei beneath the bronze plaque that honors the tall, silver-haired man Obama called "Gramps."
Stanley Armour Dunham was entitled to be interred at Punchbowl because of his service during World War II. He had been a sergeant in Patton's 7th Army in Europe, a charismatic figure who liked to drink and loved to tell stories but later struggled to make a living selling furniture and insurance in Honolulu.
He was, however, a success at being the primary man in the young life of the future president — after Obama's father left Hawai'i when he was just 2.
"They walked everywhere and little Barry was always with him," said U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who lived nearby and has been a family friend since. "He relished that little boy's company. When I would see them, Stanley would offer how bright Barry was and how well he was doing in school. He had ambitions for little Barry.
"That man loved Barry and everybody knew that," Abercrombie said. "He maybe had his weaknesses and his shortcomings, like other people, but love of that boy was not one of them. It was obvious to everybody and certainly must have been obvious to little Barry that his grandfather not only loved him but, more importantly, liked him and liked having him around and liked him as his pal."
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