Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, died Friday at age 93, according to a statement from the Supreme Court.
O’Connor, appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, served more than two decades on the court before retiring in 2006. The announcement from the court said O’Connor died of complications from advanced dementia and a respiratory illness.
O’Connor was born in El Paso, Texas, in 1930 and worked as an attorney in California, Germany and Arizona, before serving as the Assistant Attorney General of the state from 1965 to 1969. O’Connor also served in the Arizona State Senate and majority leader of the chamber before beginning her service as a state court judge in 1975.
