Hillary Clinton's Mother Dies at 92; Family Issues Statement
Dorothy Howell Rodham, who was born in June of 1919, died in Washington, D.C. just after midnight Tuesday, while surrounded by her family, according to a Clinton family statement.
Clinton, who has credited her mother in the past for inspiring her to believe she could do anything she set her mind to, even campaigned with Rodham during her bid for the presidency in 2007.
Appearing in Iowa in December of that year, Clinton told a rally audience, "I wanted to bring a buddy with me so I brought my mother, Dorothy Rodham. She lives with Bill and me and she's been following the campaign very closely. She has a lot of questions that I try to answer." Clinton then added, "I want to thank you for being here, mom. Thanks for coming back to Iowa with me."
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According to the Clinton family statement on Rodham, a native of Chicago, Ill.:
"She overcame abandonment and hardship as a young girl to become the remarkable woman she was-a warm, generous and strong woman; an intellectual; a woman who told a great joke and always got the joke; an extraordinary friend and, most of all, a loving wife, mother and grandmother."
“She leaves behind many friends from all stages and places in her life, friends from California she met in high school, friends from Little Rock and Washington with whom she explored the world, the people who were first her doctors and then became her friends at George Washington Hospital, to the people she met through her children and grandchildren who became as much her friend as theirs.”
Rodham is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, former President Bill Clinton, her sons Hugh and Tony Rodham, and her grandchildren Chelsea Clinton, Zachary Rodham, Fiona Rodham and Simon Rodham.
According to a State Department official, Clinton had decided on canceling a trip to Turkey last week for a conference on economic development in Afghanistan, due to her mother’s illness.
A private memorial is planned for Rodham. The family is asking that donations be extended to George Washington Hospital, the hospital where, according to family members, Rodham "received excellent care and made terrific friends over many years." Donations might also be sent to the Heifer Project, a charitable organization that helps communities in developing countries.
