Pamela Rymer, appeals court judge, dies

Judge Pamela Rymer of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has died after a years-long battle with cancer.

The federal court Thursday announced the death of the 70-year-old Rymer, who has been in failing health in recent months. The court says Rymer was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and died Wednesday with friends at her bedside.

President Ronald Reagan first appointed Rymer to the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in 1983. President George H.W. Bush elevated her to the appeals court in 1989.

Rymer was born in Knoxville, Tenn., and raised in the San Francisco Bay area.

The court didn't list any survivors, and said Rymer requested no services.

Two scholarships in her name have been established at Stanford University, where she graduated law school in 1964.