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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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The wife of former President Barack Obama's personal chef, Tafari Campbell, has paid tribute to him after he drowned while paddleboarding on Martha's Vineyard on Sunday.
Massachusetts State Police confirmed that the paddleboarder whose body was recovered from Edgartown Great Pond on Monday was Campbell, 45, of Dumfries, Virginia.
His wife Sherise on Tuesday posted a tribute on social media, saying her life is "forever changed."
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"My heart is broken," she wrote alongside a photo of Campbell on the Instagram page for her catering company.
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"My life and our family's life is forever changed. Please pray for me and our families as I deal with the loss of my husband.. @cheftafari."
Newsweek has contacted the business for further comment via email.
The couple have twin boys, according to a statement from the former president and his wife, Michelle Obama.
In their statement, the Obamas called Campbell a "beloved part of our family."
"When we first met him, he was a talented sous chef at the White House—creative and passionate about food, and its ability to bring people together," they said in the statement. "In the years that followed, we got to know him as a warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter."
The Obamas said they had asked Campbell to continue working with them after they left the White House.
He "generously agreed," they said. "He's been part of our lives ever since, and our hearts are broken that he's gone. 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."
Emergency services responded to the pond near Turkeyland Cove, where Obama has a summer home, just before 8 p.m. on Sunday after receiving a call about "a male paddleboarder who had gone into the water, appeared to briefly struggle to stay on the surface and then submerged and did not resurface," state police said in a statement.
State police said another paddleboarder was on the pond with him at the time and saw him go under water.
The search was paused late Sunday. On Monday, state police said sonar from a boat located Campbell's body about 100 feet from shore at a depth of about 8 feet.
Campbell was visiting Martha's Vineyard at the time of his death, state police said. The Obamas were not at the residence at the time, they said.
An investigation into Campbell's death is being conducted by the state police and the Edgartown Police Department.
Newsweek has contacted state police and the Edgartown Police Department for further comment via email.
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