SALT LAKE CITY — As many Americans mourn the death of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, some in Utah share a special connection to the first woman to serve on the nation's highest court.
O'Connor, who passed away Friday at the age of 93, visited Utah multiple times through the years, including receiving an an honorary law degree from BYU in 1994.
“She relished the opportunity and really valued the opportunity to be at a place where she could make a difference, and I think she made the most of that,” said Third Circuit Court Judge Denise Lindberg, a former clerk for O'Connor.
Justice O'Connor was described as a trailblazer, who even though she was the first, made sure she wasn’t the last.
“Simply just being there made a difference in giving people the sense that, or giving women the sense that if she can break those barriers, maybe I can too," said Lindberg.
Appointed to the Court in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan, O'Connor served until 2006. Lindberg spent Friday reflecting on what made her former boss so special.
“Being able to clerk at the Supreme Court is a career making opportunity, but more than that really was her mentoring," she explained. "She was a task master while we were in court, but after our term ended, she went out of her way to open up opportunities for her clerks and to provide whatever wisdom she had and guidance.
"More than anything, she was a role model, an example.”
Lindberg isn't the only Utahn with a connection with O'Connor, including a current BYU law student who gave her newborn daughter the name Day as a middle name.
"Just because I wanted to remember myself and I always want my daughter to know that she can do anything. That she can work hard toward any goal, that she doesn’t have to compromise, And still have an impact on the world," SAID Aerin Christensen.
