Edward McCabe, former chief administrative judge in Nassau, dies at 90

Edward G. McCabe Sr., whose three-decade career in public service spanned town and county legal positions and judgeships, including a six-year tenure as the chief administrative judge of the Nassau County court system, died Friday of congestive heart failure while in hospice care in Melville, his son Edward said. He was 90.

McCabe, who had lived in New Hyde Park, was first elected as a state Supreme Court justice in 1985 and reelected in 1999, according to his biography. After serving as chief administrative judge from 1997 to 2003, he was appointed presiding justice of the Appellate Term of the New York State Supreme Court for the Second Judicial Department, Ninth and Tenth Judicial Districts.

He was always known as "judge," even after leaving the bench, said Michael Sahn, managing member of the law firm Sahn Ward Braff Koblenz PLLC in Uniondale, where McCabe went to work after retiring in 2009. 

"Everyone called him judge. He earned the title in every respect," Sahn said in an interview Friday.

"He was very sharp. He had a great legal mind. He had incredible energy and he was the type of person — he was never ready to retire. He could’ve continued to serve on the bench but for the regulations that required his retirement in New York State," Sahn said.

Edward G. McCabe Jr. of Bay Shore, who is an attorney, said his father "was a very strong leader," one who was "very persuasive with people" and an "artful administrator."

Sahn and the younger McCabe pointed to the jurist's insightful tenure as a leader of the court system in Nassau. 

"He did incredible things in the judiciary and in practice," Sahn said. "For instance, he was the first director of the paralegal studies program at Hofstra University."

Both men talked about McCabe bringing developmentally delayed children into the courthouse for programs. They also said he instituted mammography screening for jurors at the courthouse, and other health care screenings.

"He was much more than just a judge. Over at the courthouse, he was a great leader," Sahn said.

The younger McCabe said his father earned many accolades. He was named "man of the year" by several organizations, including the Catholic Lawyers Association, the Nassau Lawyers Association and the Nassau County Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts.

McCabe was born in Woodhaven, Queens, and graduated from Brooklyn Preparatory High School. He earned his bachelor's degree from Fordham University and his law degree from New York Law School, his son said. 

McCabe served in the Army in the late 1950s and early '60s, and later as a reservist in the Air National Guard.

He married in 1959, and his wife, Marilyn, survives him. They moved to New Hyde Park in 1962, where they remained.

Before his service on the bench, McCabe served as county attorney for Nassau County and town attorney for North Hempstead, and earlier as an assistant district attorney for Nassau. While working as North Hempstead Town attorney in the late 1970s, he hired Sahn right out of law school to work for him.

Decades later, McCabe went to work at Sahn’s firm, retiring only last year.

Sahn said McCabe "wanted to stay active. And he also wanted to bring all his knowledge and experience to us so that he could guide us and mentor the many younger attorneys that we have in the firm." 

Sahn said when McCabe joined the firm, he told Sahn, "You're the boss now."

"But I would say, 'No judge. You’re always going to be the boss,'" Sahn said.

Besides Marilyn, survivors include daughter Patricia Cummings of Mooresville, North Carolina; two other sons, Andrew McCabe of Patchogue and Matthew McCabe of Old Greenwich, Connecticut; and nine grandchildren.

The wake will be held Monday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 p.m. at New Hyde Park Funeral Home on Lakeview Road, New Hyde Park. A funeral Mass will be said at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday at Notre Dame Church in New Hyde Park.

Burial will follow at Mount Saint Mary Cemetery in Flushing, Queens.

By Olivia Winslow

olivia.winslow@newsday.com@newsollie