Then-Supreme Court nominee Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981.Photo: undefined
WhileSandra Day O’Connorultimately settled down with her Stanford Law classmate John Jay O’Connor, it wasn’t for lack of proposals from “multiple” other suitors — including one who would later serve with her on the nation’s highest court.
In her first year at Stanford Law, Sandra dated classmate William Rehnquist, the future chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Sandra Day O’Connor during her college years.AP
AP
After they broke up, Sandra bonded with another classmate, John Jay O’Connor, over beers as they worked on the school’s prestigious law review.
She soon began dating John — but 40 days into her new relationship, shereceived a letter from Rehnquistproposing marriage.
“To be specific, Sandy, will you marry me this summer?” Rehnquist wrote in the note, which was revealed inFirst.She said no.
Sandra and John O’Connor at home with their sons Scott, Jay and Brian in 1981.David Hume Kennerly/Getty
David Hume Kennerly/Getty
Sandra and John had three sons together in the decade that followed: Scott, Brian and Jay.
News that Rehnquist had popped the question initially “surprised” her children, Jaytold NPRin 2018. “Multiple men proposed to my mom when she was in college and law school,” he said, “and ultimately my dad was the one who was the real deal.”
She remained married to John until his death in 2009 from Alzheimer’s — the same disease that is believed to have contributed to her death 14 years later.
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (R) and her husband, John Jay O’Connor, at their home, circa 1981, in Paradise Valley, Arizona.David Hume Kennerly/Getty
In October 2018, Sandra’s familyreleased a letterfrom the 24-year Supreme Court veteran announcing that she had dementia and was “no longer able to participate in public life.”
“How fortunate I feel to be an American and to have been presented with the remarkable opportunities available to the citizens of our country,” she wrote. “As a young cowgirl from the Arizona desert, I never could have imagined that one day I would become the first woman justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.”
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Sandra died in Phoenix, Arizona, on Dec. 1, 2023, at the age of 93.
The court announced her death in a statement, citing “complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness.”
source: people.com
