COLUMBUS, Ohio - The former first lady of Somalia, Dalayad Haji Hashi Jama, has died in Columbus at the age of 72, family members said Wednesday.
They said Jama died in her apartment on Monday of complications from diabetes.
Jama was married to former Somali dictator Mohamed Siad Barre for 45 years. After he died in exile in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1995, she joined eight of her children in Columbus, which has the second largest Somali population in the United States.
Somalia was thrown into chaos in the aftermath of Barre's 22-year reign, which ended in 1991 in civil war between feuding clans and led hundreds of thousands of Somalis to flee the impoverished country.
Somalia has been without a government since Barre's ouster.
Columbus Somalis said Jama enjoyed a modest life despite being Somalia's last first lady.
"She was just a very kind, normal person who lived a quiet life in Columbus without privilege or prestige," said Yusuf H. Abucar, president of the Somali Community in Central Ohio.
As a first lady, Jama shunned the spotlight in favor of supporting her husband's advancing career, said her son-in-law, Abdi A. Omar, 52, of Westerville.
Jama fell in love with Barre in 1950, when he was a policeman under the Italian mandate over Somalia, Omar said. After independence in 1960, Barre became chief of police and was appointed vice-commander of the Somali army, then commander-in-chief in 1965. He took control of the presidency in a military coup in 1969.
Information from: The Columbus Dispatch