WASHINGTON (November 11, 2009)--John J. O'Connor III, the husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, has died at 79 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

O’Connor died Wednesday in Phoenix, Ariz.

John O'Connor, who was also a lawyer, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's nearly two decades ago.

His condition deteriorated markedly in mid-decade and when his wife announced her retirement in 2005, the justice cited the need to care her husband.

The O'Connors were married in 1952 and became a leading couple on Washington's social scene when they moved from Arizona in 1981 after her confirmation as the first woman on the Supreme Court.