President Obama’s aunt from Kenya, Zeituni Onyango, who had finally won asylum in 2010 after living illegally in Boston several years, died Monday night in a nursing home in the city, her legal team said.
Margaret W. Wong, one of Onyango’s immigration attorneys, confirmed on Tuesday that she died the night before in her sleep at the Kindred Nursing and Rehabilitation Harborlights facility in South Boston.
Onyango, 61, took ill in January and suffering breast cancer and respiratory problems, Wong and a relative said. Information on funeral arrangements was not available.
The White House had no comment on Onyango’s passing.
She was a native of Kenya and moved to South Boston in 2000, Wong’s office said. S
Onyango was the half-sister of Obama’s late father.
A receptionist at the South Boston nursing home where Onyango died said Tuesday that no one was available to speak with the media.
Onyango’s brother-in-law, Dr. Abel Oriri, a Cleveland psychologist, spoke highly of her in a phone interview.
“She’s a great human being, and loving and devoted to her kids,” Oriri said. “She loved people, loved life.”
Oriri said her children are living in Kenya