Died in Palo Alto, California

Rose Elizabeth Bird died on December 4, 1999, at her home in Palo Alto, California, after a long battle with breast cancer, which she had fought for over a decade while largely withdrawing from public life following her 1986 electoral defeat. She was 63 years old.

In the years following her removal from the California Supreme Court, Bird largely avoided the media spotlight, declining most interviews and living a comparatively private life. She occasionally did volunteer legal work and advocacy, including work with organizations serving low-income clients, but she never returned to elected or appointed public office.

Her death prompted extensive retrospective coverage reassessing her legacy as a pioneering woman in American law and a lightning rod in the national debate over judicial independence and the death penalty. Tributes highlighted both her trailblazing role as the first woman to sit on the California Supreme Court and to serve as its chief justice, as well as the enduring controversy surrounding her tenure.

Feminist and legal organizations, including the Feminist Majority Foundation, publicly mourned her passing, framing her as a martyr for judicial independence and a symbol of the risks women in public life faced when defying entrenched political interests. Her life and career continue to be studied in law schools and judicial history programs as an emblematic case of the tension between an independent judiciary and populist electoral pressure.