Barack Obama, Sr.

Barack Obama Sr.
Barack Hussein Obama Sr.
Born	Baraka Obama 18 June 1936 Nyang'oma Kogelo, Rachuonyo District, Kenya Colony
Died	24 November 1982 (aged 46) Nairobi, Kenya
Cause of death	Automobile accident
Resting place	Nyang'oma Kogelo, Siaya, Kenya
Nationality	Kenyan
Alma mater	University of Hawaii Harvard University
Occupation	Economist
Known for	Father of U.S. President Barack Obama
Spouse(s)	Kezia Obama (1954) Stanley Ann Dunham (1961–1964) Ruth Beatrice Baker (later Ndesandjo) (1964–1973) Jael Otieno
Children	Malik Obama (b. 1958) Auma Obama (b. 1960) Barack Obama (b. 1961) Mark Ndesandjo (b. 1965) David Ndesandjo (1968–1987) Abo Obama (b. 1968) Bernard Obama (b. 1970) George Obama (b. 1982)
Parent(s)	Hussein Onyango Obama and Akumu Habiba

Barack Hussein Obama Sr. (/ˈbærək huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; 18 June 1936 – 24 November 1982) was a Kenyan senior governmental economist and the father of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. He is a central figure of his son's memoir, Dreams from My Father (1995). Obama married in 1954 and had two children with his first wife, Kezia. He was selected for a special program to attend college in the United States, and studied at the University of Hawaii. There, Obama met Stanley Ann Dunham, whom he married in 1961, and with whom he had a son, Barack II. She divorced him three years later. The elder Obama later went to Harvard University for graduate school, where he earned an M.A. in economics, and returned to Kenya in 1964. He saw his son Barack once more, when the boy was about ten.

Later that year, Obama Sr. married Ruth Beatrice Baker, a Jewish-American woman whom he had met in Massachusetts. They had two sons together before separating in 1971 and divorcing in 1973. Obama first worked for an oil company, before beginning work as an economist with the Kenyan Ministry of Transport. He gained a promotion to senior economic analyst in the Ministry of Finance. He was among a cadre of young Kenyan men who had been educated in the West in a program supported by Tom Mboya. Obama Sr. had conflicts with Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta, which adversely affected his career. He was fired and blacklisted in Kenya, finding it nearly impossible to get a job. Obama Sr. was involved in three serious car accidents during his final years; he died as a result of the last one in 1982.