Justice O’Connor’s husband dies
The O'Connors with President Bush in 2004
John J. O’Connor, III, husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, has died of complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
O’Connor passed away this morning in Phoenix. He was diagnosed with the disease nearly two decades ago. Justice O’Connor cited the need to care for her ailing husband as one reason she decided to retire in 2005.
The couple met as law students at Stanford University, where the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist was also a student. John O’Connor went on to practice law in Phoenix for nearly a quarter century. After his wife was appointed to the Supreme Court, he practiced in Washington.
