Obama grandma memorial service: Obama attends memorial (pics)

It is not all fun in the sun and frolicking in the beach for Barack Obama and his brood in Hawaii this week. Though what we have seen so far (courtesy of news reports and paparazzi) was a family escaping from the cold weather of the mainland and trying to get one last family vacation before the presidential inauguration in less than a month's time, they are also there for a more serious matter. Barack and his family are there for a memorial service - a final farewell to their beloved grandma Toot, Madelyn Dunham.

Gathering family and friends, president-elect Barack Obama held a private memorial service for the beloved grandmother who helped raise him. Madelyn
"Toot" Dunham, the woman who had been a constant source of inspiration for the then Illinois Senator during the presidential campaign, succumbed to cancer two days before Obama claimed victory - a bittersweet campaign ending for President-elect. He desperately wanted his grandmother to witness his victory. He has also acknowledged his grandmother as his pillar of strength, the woman who shaped him into what he is right now, raising him from age ten in Hawaii while his mother pursued further studies and work around the world. In the words of his sister, Barack Obama got "his pragmatism, his levelheadedness, his ability to stay centered in the eye of the story" from Madelyn, adding that "his sensible, no-nonsense (side) is inherited from her."

Following the private memorial service held at the small home that had been converted into the First Unitarian Church in the neighborhood of Nuuanu, Obama drove to cliffs east of Hononulu. He and about 20 members of his family then went to the rocky ledges of Lanai Lookout to scatter Toot Dunham's ashes onto the waves of the Pacific Ocean. After this, some family members threw flowers and garlands to the sea in her memory. It was at this same place that Brarack Obama left flowers earlier this year in memory of his beloved grandmother Toot.

The President-elect declined to speak to reporters after the memorial as this was a very private family affair. The paparazzi, though, wouldn't be denied as they snapped pictures of the event. Here are some of them. (Source: splashnewsonline.com / bauergriffinonline.com)

Obama Memorial for Grandma Madelyn 'Toot' Dunham (pictures/photos