Oprah Winfrey's mother passes away

Updated:6 years, 11 months ago

New Delhi, Nov 27 (ANI): Talk show host Oprah Winfrey's mother Vernita had died at the age of 83. According to TMZ, Oprah's niece, Alisha Hayes, informed that the former's mother died on the Thanksgiving Day (November 22). Vernita along with husband Vernon Winfrey welcomed Oprah into their lives in 1954. Her mother, who moved to Milwaukee to work as a housemaid, couldn't raise Oprah and thus she was raised by her maternal grandmother. Oprah revealed that she moved to Milwaukee when she was six and maintained a distance from her mother, because of the long separation. Oprah was given up for adoption, as Vernita had another child in 1963. Interestingly, she met her long-lost sibling Patricia in 2010. After Oprah's relationship with her mother became stable, the former invited the latter on her talk show in 1990. Vernita is survived by Oprah and Patricia and several grandchildren including Alisha Hayes. A private funeral service was held in her memory.