Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Cecilia Marshall passed away at the age of 94.
According to CNN, the wife of civil rights legend and the first Black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall died on Tuesday.
“Cissy,” as she was affectionately known, worked for the NAACP from 1948-1955, just as her late husband did. The Hawaii native moved to New York and worked as a court stenographer. She studied at Columbia University. Thurgood and Cecilia married in December 1955. From their union, they had two sons– Thurgoood, Jr. and John.
Cecilia was known to be an active participant when her esteemed husband was on the bench. After he retired in 1991 and subsequently passed away in 1993– the matriarch continued to be present to hear oral arguments be heard.
“You wanted to sit next to her at any event,” Chief Justice John Roberts told CNN. “She had an easy sense of humor that could be – in an appropriate setting, of course – a bit saucy.”
Roberts also said Cecilia typically sat in the space reserved for spouses and other Supreme Court functions.
Justice Elena Kagan, a former law clerk for the prominent justice during the 1987-88 session, said, “Every clerk to Justice Marshall received a sort of bonus: the steadfast friendship and support of his wife, Cissy. She was a marvelous woman, and we all loved and admired her. The community of TM clerks will today feel a great loss.”
Before Cecilia passed, she resided in Falls Church, Virginia and still served on the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund and the Supreme Court Historical Society.
Although no cause of death has been determined, the late matriarch is survived by her two sons, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
May she rest in peace.