HONOLULU -- A campaign spokesman said Madelyn Dunham died at about 3 a.m. Hawaii time Monday, in her apartment with granddaughter Maya Soetoro-Ng at her side.

"She passed away peacefully. She passed away knowing that he was in the lead, that the early voting was indicating that he was doing very well," Congressman Neil Abercrombie said.

Abercrombie, Obama's honorary campaign chairman in Hawaii, became emotional as he talked about the bond between Sen. Barack Obama and his grandmother.

"So she gave him everything. And he's aware of that. And I'm sure that that's going to give him strength tomorrow, that's going to give him strength," Abercrombie said.

Rep. Mazie Hirono said Dunham was an inspiring supervisor in Hirono's first job after she graduated from college.

"Oh, I was just a young thing. I was in my early 20s and I had signed up for temp agency work and they called me at bank of Hawaii," Hirono said.

That's where Madelyn Dunham was a vice president, one of the first women bank vice presidents in Hawaii.

"Madelyn definitely was one of those people who, through sheer determination and hard work, got to where she got to, and I think that shows very much in Sen. Obama," Hirono said.

In lieu of flowers, Obama's family asked people to donate to worthy organizations searching for a cure for cancer.