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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 2:38 p.m., Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Friday Punchbowl tribute set for Obama's grandmother

Advertiser Staff

A community tribute service for Madelyn Dunham, grandmother of President-elect Barack Obama, will be held at 5 p.m. Friday at the National Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, according to Borthwick Mortuary, which is handling the funeral arrangements.

Dunham's family is not expected to attend, a press release from Borthwick said.

The service is expected to last about an hour. A parking area will be available at Punchbowl.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Dunham's name to organizations in search of a cure for cancer.

Dunham, 86, died of cancer Nov. 2, two nights before Obama was elected president.

Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama's sister, was with her grandmother at her Punahou-area apartment when she died.

Obama made an abrupt visit to Hawai'i while his campaign was still in full swing to say farewell to Dunham less than two weeks before her death.

The president-elect is expected to visit Hawai'i again, ostensibly to memorialize his grandmother, sometime before his inauguration on Jan. 20.