Roberta Wright McCain, the mother of the late Sen. John S. McCain (R-AZ), died Monday at the age of 108.
“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my wonderful Mother In-law, Roberta McCain,” Cindy McCain tweeted Monday afternoon. “I couldn’t have asked for a better role model or a better friend. She joins her husband Jack, her son John and daughter Sandy.”
It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my wonderful Mother In-law, Roberta McCain. I couldn’t have asked for a better role model or a better friend. She joins her husband Jack, her son John and daughter Sandy.
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) October 12, 2020
“I love you Nana,” wrote granddaughter Meghan McCain, who had her first child last month. “You’re everything I ever aspired to be. Thank you for teaching us all about living life on your own terms with grit, conviction, intensity and love. There will never be another one like you, you will be missed every day. I wish my daughter had gotten to meet you.”
I love you Nana. You’re everything I ever aspired to be. Thank you for teaching us all about living life on your own terms with grit, conviction, intensity and love. There will never be another one like you, you will be missed every day. I wish my daughter had gotten to meet you. pic.twitter.com/yy9sM8cG6i
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) October 12, 2020
Roberta McCain was born Feb. 7, 1912 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, to Myrtle May Fletcher and Archibald Wright, who gained wealth in the oil industry.
While still a junior at the University of Southern California in 1933, Roberta eloped at age 20 with Adm. John S. McCain Jr., the son of the famous Adm. John S. McCain Sr., who commanded forces in the Pacific theater of World War II. She would describe her decision to elope so young as “the best decision I ever made,” according to The Associated Press.
In addition to the late Arizona senator, Roberta McCain’s other children included the late Jean Alexandra “Sandy” (McCain) Morgan, who died in 2019, as well as actor Joseph Pinckney McCain II, who remains alive and was with his mother when she died in her Washington, D.C., home, according to a statement from Cindy McCain.
Roberta also participated in her son John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, pointing to her own longevity as reason to dismiss opponents who attempted to present his age as a reason he was unfit for the presidency. Roberta ended up outliving her own son, who died in 2018 from brain cancer.
Happy 105th birthday to my wonderful mother Roberta – we love you mom! pic.twitter.com/63E912Imub
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 7, 2017
Cindy McCain’s full statement read:
My mother-in-law, Roberta Wright McCain, died in her Washington home a little after one o’clock eastern time this afternoon. Her son, Joe, was with her when she passed away. The matriarch of the McCain clan, devoted wife, mother, grandmother and sister, her relations were as captivated by her charms as were her thousands of admirers. Roberta was the liveliest presence in every room she graced, an irresistible force of nature. Her life spanned more than a century. She was her husband’s closest confidant, and with her lifelong passion for travel and learning that never wearied, she was more than a witness to great events, she was an active participant in and shrewd observer of some of the seminal moments of the last century.
Roberta goes to her rest having outlived her husband, two of her three children, and her beloved twin sister, Rowena. She lived another four decades after her husband, Admiral John S. McCain Jr., passed, never losing her zest for life. She lived long enough to see her oldest son nominated for president, and to grieve his loss twelve years later. John credited Roberta with giving him his resilience in adversity and his joy in living, writing of her, “Her delight is infectious, and becomes in her company, yours. She has a great gift [for living], and it is all the greater for the ease and happiness with which she shares it.”
Now she has been reunited with her husband, Jack, with Rowena, and with her children, John and Sandy. Her family and many friends grieve her loss, but we will treasure her memory all our lives. She is, after all, unforgettable.