Obama chef drowns near former president’s Martha’s Vineyard home

'Our hearts are broken that he’s gone,' the Obamas say after paddle board accident

Chef Tafari Campbell smiles on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington in 2008. AP

Former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on Monday mourned the death of their personal chef, who drowned on Sunday in a paddle board accident near their home in Martha’s Vineyard.

The body of Tafari Campbell, 45, was recovered from Edgartown Great Pond near the Obama home on the southern coast of the holiday island by Massachusetts State Police on Monday after a fellow paddle boarder on Sunday reported Campbell had gone into the water and had not resurfaced.

Emergency crews were unable to find him throughout the evening, although his body was eventually recovered using sonar.

The Obamas were not at the house at the time of the accident.

Campbell worked as a sous chef at the White House during the Obama presidency, and was hired when the Obamas departed to join their household staff.

“He’s been part of our lives ever since, and our hearts are broken that he’s gone,” they said in a statement.

“Today we join everyone who knew and loved Tafari – especially his wife Sherise and their twin boys, Xavier and Savin – in grieving the loss of a truly wonderful man.”

The Obama family bought the nearly 650 square metre mansion on Martha’s Vineyard in 2021 from Boston Celtics owner Wycliffe Grousbeck.

The home abuts the coastal pond, which is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow barrier beach.