Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who became the first female justice in 1981, announced Tuesday that she suffers from dementia and is “no longer able to participate in public life.”
In a letter released by her family, O’Connor, 88, said she wanted to “be open about these changes, and while I am still able, share some personal thoughts.” she reported that she was in the beginning stages of dementia, “probably Alzheimer’s disease.”
She added: “How fortunate I feel to be an American and to have been presented with the remarkable opportunities available to the citizens of our country. 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.”
O’Connor, nominated to the court by President Ronald Reagan, served for a quarter-century. She has a close relationship with dementia and Alzheimer’s as she left the Supreme Court to take care of her husband, John, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
The Alzheimer’s Association chief public policy officer, Robert Egge, said that O’Connor had been active with his organization. “Driven by her own experience” caring for her husband when he had dementia, “Justice Sandra Day O’Connor channeled this passion into her work as a critical member of the Alzheimer’s Study Group,” Egge said in a statement. “She played an important role in making Alzheimer’s the national priority it is today.”
O’Connor faces her diagnosis courageously, stating “While the final chapter of my life with dementia may be trying, nothing has diminished my gratitude and deep appreciation for the countless blessings of my life.”