John J. O’Connor III, a lawyer who went to Washington in a historic role, as the husband of the first female U.S. Supreme Court justice, has died. He was 79.
O’Connor died Wednesday in Phoenix of complications arising from Alzheimer’s disease, the court said in a statement. He had been diagnosed with the disease nearly two decades ago.
After Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman to serve on the nation’s highest court in 1981, her husband gave up a partnership at a venerable Phoenix law firm to accompany her to Washington.
Advertisem*nt
Soon after the couple arrived, a reporter asked him, “How do you feel about being in the supporting role?” He responded, “Sandra’s accomplishments don’t make me a lesser man. They make me a fuller man.”
In Washington, he practiced at the law firm of Miller & Chevalier but in 1988 switched to another firm, Bryan Cave, which allowed him to spend time in Phoenix and take advantage of his contacts there.
A civic leader, the confident and witty O’Connor was once described as “a magnificent man full of Irish humor and tales,” by family friend Alan K. Simpson, a former senator from Wyoming.
Fixtures on the Washington social circuit in the 1980s and 1990s, the couple were known for their ballroom dancing.
By 2000, O’Connor had retired, and as his condition worsened, he spent much of the workday with his wife. She retired from the court in 2006 to care for him, but within months had to place him in an assisted-living facility in Phoenix.
As his memory faded, he no longer recognized his wife of more than 50 years and struck up a romance with a fellow Alzheimer’s patient. The O’Connor family publicly shared the poignant turn of events.
Advertisem*nt
“Sandra sees this as a bright spot in his life that would otherwise be dark and lonely,” former FBI Director William Webster, a family friend, told People magazine in 2007. “She felt if this gave him a little sunshine, why, that’s great.”
John Jay O’Connor III was born Jan. 10, 1930, in San Francisco, the son of physician John O’Connor II and his wife, Sally.
After earning a bachelor’s from Stanford University in 1951, O’Connor met his future wife at Stanford’s law school. They fell for each other while proofreading a law review article and then dated for the next 40 nights, she wrote in her memoir.
The couple married in 1952 at an Arizona cattle ranch that was her childhood home.
After he graduated from law school in 1953 and joined the Army, his wife accompanied him to Frankfurt, Germany, where he worked in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps until 1956.
On returning to Phoenix, the O’Connors took the Arizona bar exam together.
In 1957, he joined the firm of Fennemore, Craig, von Ammon & Udall, and primarily handled general corporate matters before resigning in 1981.
In addition to his wife, O’Connor is survived by their three sons, Scott, Brian and Jay, and six grandchildren.
Advertisem*nt
Services will be private.
valerie.nelson@latimes.com
More to Read
-
Mel Opotowsky, newspaper editor and 1st Amendment advocate, dies at 92
April 26, 2024
-
Justice Thomas returns to Supreme Court after one-day absence
April 16, 2024
-
Justice Thomas misses Supreme Court session Monday with no explanation
April 15, 2024
More to Read
-
Mel Opotowsky, newspaper editor and 1st Amendment advocate, dies at 92
April 26, 2024
-
Justice Thomas returns to Supreme Court after one-day absence
April 16, 2024
-
Justice Thomas misses Supreme Court session Monday with no explanation
April 15, 2024
More to Read
-
Obituaries
Mel Opotowsky, newspaper editor and 1st Amendment advocate, dies at 92
April 26, 2024
-
Justice Thomas returns to Supreme Court after one-day absence
April 16, 2024
-
Justice Thomas misses Supreme Court session Monday with no explanation
April 15, 2024
-
Obituaries
Roland Coleman Jr., former L.A. County Bar Assn. president, dies at 74
April 6, 2024
-
Politics
Peter Schey, longtime Los Angeles champion of immigrant rights, dead at 77
April 3, 2024
-
California
O.C. man who killed his wife and made it look like an accident gets 15 years to life
March 18, 2024
-
Obituaries
Larry H. Parker, auto accident and personal injury attorney, dies at 75
March 15, 2024
-
Sandra Day O’Connor called a pioneer and ‘iconic jurist’ as she is memorialized by Biden, Roberts
Dec. 19, 2023
-
The late Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, honored as trailblazer
Dec. 18, 2023