Sandra Day O’Connor passed away this morning in Phoenix, AZ due to respiratory complications and a battle with dementia. She was 93 years old.
O’Conner was raised on a ranch on the Arizona-New Mexico border before being sent to live with her grandparents in El Paso to start grade school. She called Texas home until 16, when she enrolled at Stanford University, later becoming one of four women in her law school class. Nominated by Ronald Reagan in 1981, O’Connor famously served as the first female supreme court justice for 24 years before stepping down to care for her husband who also suffered from Alzheimer’s disease in 2005.
She is survived by her brother, Alan Day, as well as her three sons and six grandchildren.
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