U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor continued to earn admiration and respect after stepping down from the high court 17 years ago, with many local leaders remembering encounters with her as she continued to advocate for civics education and the judiciary.Judge Ilana Diamond Rovner, the first woman to serve on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, described O’Connor as “one of my heroines.”Rovner and the late Judge Michael S. Kanne were on a panel with O’Connor …