Biden, Chief Justice Roberts speak at Sandra Day O’Connor’s funeral

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice, is being memorialized Tuesday in a funeral at Washington National Cathedral, where President Biden and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. are among those delivering eulogies. The invitation-only service comes 2½ weeks after the death of the former justice and a day after the public paid respects as she lay in repose at the Supreme Court.

Biden, who was the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee for O’Connor’s nomination, remembered the justice as “gracious and wise, civil and principled.”

“Her desire for civility was genuine,” Biden said as O’Connor’s family smiled and nodded. She “empowered generations of women in every part of American life.”

O’Connor, who died Dec. 1 at age 93, was nominated by President Ronald Reagan and served on the Supreme Court for nearly a quarter century, from 1981 until her retirement in 2006.

Her independence often made her a deciding vote on an ideologically divided court. Appointed as a conservative, she became known as a centrist, supporting traditional boundaries between church and state and writing an opinion justifying race-conscious admissions in law schools. She was also the key vote in cases involving abortion.

O’Connor often said that she didn’t mind being the first female justice but did not want to be the last. Today, four women serve on the court. One of them, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, spoke during a private ceremony before the public event Monday, saying O’Connor was a “living example” of how women could hold their own in places dominated by men.

“The nation was well-served,” Sotomayor said, “by the steady hand and intellect of a justice who never lost sight of how the law affected ordinary people.”

Before being appointed, O’Connor served as assistant attorney general of Arizona, in the state Senate, as a superior court judge and on the state court of appeals. After she retired from the court, she founded iCivics, which focuses on furthering civic education.

In the program for the funeral, a quote from O’Connor from July 1987 was featured, saying she had been “greatly blessed” by her life’s experiences.

“I have loved dearly my husband, John, my children, Joanie, my friends, and family,” she said. “I hope I have helped pave the way for other women who have chosen to follow a career. Our purpose in life is to help others along the way. May you each try to do the same.”