Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow was a pioneer in opening opportunities for women in the law. She was greatly admired for her elegance, grace and style over a legal career that spanned five decades.
Justice McMorrow, 83, passed away Saturday after a brief illness.
Justice McMorrow was the first woman to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court and—as its Chief Justice from September 2002 to September 2005—was the first woman to head a branch of Illinois government. Or, as she put it at her swearing in as Chief, "I am the 115th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois. You will notice after I take off my robe that I am the only one of the 114 chief justices who preceded me that wears a skirt."
Justice McMorrow had a remarkable legal career.
It began with graduation as the only woman in her class from the School of Law at Loyola University in 1953, continued as the first woman to try felony cases as an assistant Cook County state's attorney and culminated with her selection as Chief by her colleagues on the Supreme Court.
She served on the Supreme Court from 1992 until her retirement July 5, 2006. Her tenure as Chief Justice began September 5, 2002 and concluded September 4, 2005.
Throughout her career, indeed throughout her lifetime, Justice McMorrow assumed and maintained a strong mentor's role for women who wished to enter and serve in the law. She accomplished this always in graceful fashion, earning the respect, admiration and fondness of colleagues, legal adversaries and ordinary citizens crossing gender lines.
