Dunham 's family and friends paint her as ardent anthropologist and explorer . Comment: Most of Dunham 's personal effects will find final home in Smithsonian . In 1995 , just before her 53rd birthday , Ann Dunham died after a short battle with ovarian cancer . In traditional Hawaiian fashion , her ashes were scattered into waters of islands .
Dunham 's family and friends paint her as ardent anthropologist and explorer . Comment: Most of Dunham 's personal effects will find final home in Smithsonian . In traditional Hawaiian fashion , her ashes were scattered into waters of islands .