Known by her initials RGB, she was heroine, a guiding light and courageous champion of women's rights in the highest court of law in this country. Ginsburg was the second woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court after Sandra Day O'Connor. She protected abortion rights and a wide range of other progressive ideals on an otherwise conservative Supreme Court.
"It’s honestly terrifying," said Tasha Shadden, a 2011 graduate from St. Joseph-Ogden High School currently working toward a masters degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. "She was the voice for gender equality and reproductive rights and losing that is a huge loss for women. It’s hands down the worst part of 2020 so far."
Like Shadden, Doctor Suzanne Ford, who graduated from the University Of Illinois College Of Veterinary Medicine in 2019, was a distance runner with the SJO running program. She said Ginsberg's showed strength and passion in her final days.
"She was firm and known for her fierce dissents, which made her a role model for so many to stand up for what they believe is right, even when that’s against the majority. As she aged, RBG battled cancer yet remained active and continued to serve on the Supreme Court, which shows her strength and passion to uphold a fair and just legal system for our country. Even with her popularity, she remained humble. She is a hero to so many of us and will be greatly missed."
St. Joseph resident Kelly Miller Skinner, owner of Soul Care Urban Retreat Center was stunned by the news. She wrote:
For me, she has always represented someone who works hard and uses all her smarts and skills to work within the system for lasting change. She has inspired so many women of all ages that they can make a difference in their own way and in their own spheres. Her plain talk has given words to what we all feel.
I also keep thinking....who is going to step up and inspire us next?
St. Joseph's Jennifer Tuttle hopes whoever replaces Ginsberg, mirrors the strength and determination she was known for by her admirers.
"Clearly she had a big part in women’s rights in the us," said Tuttle, General Manager of Champaign's Red Lobster. "I viewed her as a helper, one that always wanted to try to find common ground. She was a lady first, yet still showed independence. Hopefully, the next person to take the spot shows the same class that she did."
With less than two months before the presidential election, Ginsburg's passing will surely deepen and already polarized country making its way through a controversial pandemic, economic decline, and civil unrest in cities around the country.
President Donald Trump will likely become the first president since Richard Nixon to confirm three supreme court justices in a single term. Washington will be political battleground as Republicans will undoubtedly at the President's insistence push through a nominee before November.
Ginsberg will be laid to rest at the Arlington National Cemetery.
