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sa国际传媒官网网页入口 attorney Roberta Cooper Ramo was driving to her law office when she heard on the car radio that Sandra Day O鈥機onnor had died.

鈥淢y first reaction was that I was relieved for her, because I knew that she 鈥� more than anyone 鈥� would not want to be in a diminished state,鈥� Ramo said.

O鈥機onnor, the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, died on Friday at age 93 of complications of dementia.

鈥淏ut my deepest hope is that our country, so polarized today, will remember her as someone who understood that compromise is the essence of a working democracy,鈥� Ramo said. 鈥淎s we look at her life, I hope that causes us to remember that specific virtue.鈥�

Facts at hand

Ramo, a lawyer with the Modrall Sperling firm, was the first woman president of the American Bar Association, 1995-1996, and president of The American Law Institute, 2008-2017.

She said she first met O鈥機onnor in 1993 or 1994 when a New York organization asked her to interview the Supreme Court justice at an event in New York City.

The two women had a lot in common. Each had faced discrimination because of her gender when trying to launch their legal careers, and both were Westerners.

Ramo鈥檚 father was chairman of a Western clothing-store chain based in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, and O鈥機onnor鈥檚 father was a rancher whose Lazy B spread straddled the New Mexico and Arizona border.

O鈥機onnor grew up in a ranch house a mile west of the New Mexico border, but she was as familiar with New Mexico towns such as Lordsburg and Silver City as any place in Arizona.

鈥淪he reminded me of so many New Mexico ranch women, straightforward, happy to meet you,鈥� Ramo said. 鈥淪he had no arrogance about her at all. At the same time, it never occurred to her that there was anything she couldn鈥檛 do because she was a woman.鈥�

Ramo and O鈥機onnor worked with each other in places as far away as London and Ukraine, but Ramo said the last time she saw O鈥機onnor was in New Mexico, just after O鈥機onnor retired from the Supreme Court in 2006.

鈥淚 think it was in Santa Fe,鈥� Ramo said. 鈥淲e were having a cup of coffee, and I was telling her how much I appreciated everything she had done. Then we just started talking about people we both knew.鈥�

She said O鈥機onnor had friends in New Mexico, attended the opera in Santa Fe and sometimes enjoyed riding horses near the capital city.

鈥淲hen she called me, she would say, 鈥楻oberta, this is Sandra,鈥� in this ranchwoman voice. I would always stand up when she phoned because I had such respect for her. She鈥檇 say, 鈥楻oberta, sit down.鈥欌��

Ramo said O鈥機onnor herself suggested that Ramo interview her at that New York City event in the early 1990s, even though the two had not met at the time.

鈥淚 think she may have picked me because I had been nominated to be American Bar Association president,鈥� Ramo said.

She said her law partners at the time teased her because, in preparation for the interview, she read all of O鈥機onnor鈥檚 Supreme Court decisions.

鈥淚 was impressed by the quality and the straightforward way she wrote her judicial opinions, the way she set out the legal architecture of her opinion,鈥� Ramo said.

Just after Leonid Kuchma was elected to the presidency of Ukraine in 1994, O鈥機onnor and Ramo met with him. Ramo said Kuchma showed them the Ukraine constitution, a rather lengthy document that he had had translated into English.

鈥淛ustice O鈥機onnor held up the slim U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, which she had brought with her, and told (Kuchma), 鈥楳y job every day is to make sure this is applied to the facts at hand.鈥欌��

High expectations

Ramo said that having served in the Arizona Senate, O鈥機onnor had a keen appreciation for the need to compromise, but she also 鈥渒new a long time ago that (the American) people did not understand our constitution or their civic responsibilities.

鈥淪he started a foundation, iCivics, to ensure every student receives a high-quality civic education and becomes engaged in and beyond the classroom,鈥� Ramo said

iCivics, a nonprofit founded in 2009, provides educational online games and lesson plans to promote civics education.

Ramo said O鈥機onnor also realized the importance of interaction with people.

In 2000, Ramo and O鈥機onnor were in London for a joint meeting of the American and British bars. Ramo鈥檚 daughter, Jennifer, now an attorney herself, was also there.

鈥淛ustice O鈥機onnor called me and said she had an extra ticket to the theater, a musical, and wanted to know if Jennifer would like to go,鈥� Ramo said. 鈥淪he knew how much it would mean to a young woman to spend time with a Supreme Court justice.

鈥淪he had high expectations for herself and everyone around her, and we were all elevated by her life, a patriotic life, well lived.鈥�