Virginia McLaurin, the centenarian who danced excitedly with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama during a 2016 White House visit, has died. She was 113.
McLaurin’s son, Felipe Cardoso Jr., said Tuesday that she died early Monday at her home in Olney, Maryland.
“Rest in peace, Virginia,” the Obamas wrote on Twitter. “We all know you’re up there dancing.”
McLaurin visited the White House for a Black History Month reception in February 2016, when she was 106.
“Hi!” McLaurin squealed as she was introduced to the president.
“You must say hi to Michelle?” Obama asked.
“Yes!” McLaurin said, moving quickly to provide the primary lady a hug.
“Decelerate now!” the president said. “Don’t go too quick.”
The ladies then held hands as they went into an impromptu dance, the president holding McLaurin’s arm.
“I believed I’d never live to get within the White House,” she said. “And I let you know, I’m so comfortable.
“A Black president. A Black wife! And I’m here to have fun Black history. Yeah, that’s what I’m here for.”
Video of the encounter quickly spread online, garnering international news coverage. After the temporary meeting, McLaurin told reporters: “I could just die comfortable.”
Deborah Menkart, a friend who helped arrange McLaurin’s 2016 visit, said it dramatically modified her life. She said McLaurin was living “very frugally” on the time but her fame spurred people to donate to a care fund for her.
“She got a latest wig, she got latest teeth, she was in a position to move to a greater apartment,” Menkart said.
Later that yr McLaurin appeared at a Washington Nationals baseball game and was presented with a team jersey on the sphere.
McLaurin also used her fame to assist others.
Born March 12, 1909, in South Carolina with out a birth certificate, McLaurin had been unable to get an ID card. Shortly after the White House visit, Menkart suggested they contact the mayor’s office and the Washington Post, which interviewed her and published a story.
Washington city officials soon issued her a brief card and announced latest regulations giving residents 70 and older more options to get IDs.
“It modified her life for not only herself, but additionally the clout she had,” Menkart said.
A sharecropper’s daughter, McLaurin spent a long time upon retirement doing volunteer work at schools. In keeping with the Obama White House archives, she was a foster grandparent and a mentor to special-needs students, helping children with reading and social skills.
“She was just so carefree,” Cardoso said. “She said her secret to life was not to fret, so she never let things worry her. She just didn’t pay it no mind.”
Cardoso said McLaurin adopted him when he was 3.
“She loved and cared for everyone,” he said. “She definitely had an enormous heart for the youngsters.”
Cardoso said funeral arrangements were pending.
