PHOENIX — Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, died in Phoenix at the age of 93.
Born in 1930 in El Paso, Texas, O'Connor grew up traveling back and forth between El Paso and her family's cattle ranch in far Eastern Arizona.
Her ties to Arizona continued when she moved to Phoenix. O'Connor landed a prestigious legal position in 1965 as assistant attorney general of Arizona. Then, in 1970, she won a seat on the Arizona State Senate.
O’Connor’s nomination in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan and subsequent confirmation by the Senate ended 191 years of male exclusivity on the high court. She was an unwavering voice of moderate conservativism on the court. She retired in 2006 and was replaced by Samuel Alito. Chief Justice John Roberts says she blazed a historic trail as the first female justice and "met that challenge with undaunted determination, indisputable ability, and engaging candor.” The court says O’Connor died in Phoenix on Friday of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness.
She broke a major gender barrier, becoming the first woman in the country to serve as a state legislative majority leader. Along the way she became known as a respected, even-tempered negotiator.
In 1974, O'Connor returned to the courtroom as a Maricopa Superior Court judge, then as a member of the Arizona Court of Appeals. In 1981, she made history. O'Connor's confirmation focused largely on whether she would overturn Roe vs. Wade. And her nomination was celebrated across the country.
O’Connor died of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness, the Supreme Court said in a news release.
O’Connor’s legacy is seen across Arizona. A high school in Glendale, the law school at ASU and the federal courthouse in downtown Phoenix all bear her name.
But her son said it was Sandra’s personal touch with those she met that will resonate. He recalled her former U.S. Supreme Court clerks, of which there are more than a hundred, traveling to Phoenix to visit her during her final years.
“A final pilgrimage,” Scott O’Connor described it. “Those clerks were like an extended family to her. When she was talking to you, you were the only person in the room. She would always be looking at you straight in the eye and be genuinely interested in you.”
Arizona remembers Sandra Day O’Connor
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