Nassau official James J. Callahan III dies

James J. Callahan III jumped at the opportunity in 2006 to trade his job as a partner at a Baldwin law firm to devote himself full-time to helping the people of Nassau County stay safe, said colleagues mourning the death last week of the county emergency management commissioner.

It was that kind of dedication to people, they said, that made Callahan the quintessential public servant.

Callahan, 42, who also had served as Malverne's trustee and deputy mayor and designed the village's emergency management protocol, died Thursday, several weeks after he was diagnosed with cancer and suffered a stroke.

"Jim enjoyed and loved helping people," said Malverne Mayor Patricia Norris McDonald, who knew Callahan for nearly two decades. "It was a tribute and an honor to have Jim serve as my deputy mayor. He was a tremendous source of knowledge and support with everything."

Callahan was a deputy mayor for eight years and a former commissioner of several village agencies, including the police, the department of public works and the fire department. He also was liaison to the volunteer ambulance corps.

Callahan, who had lived in Malverne since 1996, was born in Oceanside and grew up in North Bellmore, graduating in 1986 from Mepham High School, where he was on the cross country and winter track teams. He graduated from the University of Albany in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in history.

After receiving his law degree from St. John's University in 1993, he was an associate counsel at Diamond, Paino, Cardo & King in Brooklyn, and a partner in the Baldwin law firm Chesney & Murphy. He was Malverne's village prosecutor from 1995 to 1999, and became a village trustee in 1999.

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He had a hand in creating local laws to protect children, preserve the environment and improve volunteerism. Projects included overhauling green spaces in parks, including Reese Park, Harris Field, Westwood-Gaddis Park and Whelan Field.

In 2006, he became commissioner of Nassau's Office of Emergency Management, the agency that coordinates response to disasters, including flooding, hurricanes and storms.

"Well-respected among the community and emergency preparedness industry, Jim Callahan's dedication to keeping Nassau County safe and prepared in this ever-changing world deserves the highest recognition and sincere gratitude of our residents," County Executive Edward Mangano said in a statement.

Callahan helped to steer the county through the April 2007 nor'easter, the 2008 West Nile virus outbreak and the H1N1 swine-flu outbreak.

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In his leisure time, Callahan loved to fish with his children. He vacationed each summer with his family on Cape Cod.

He is survived by his wife, Patricia; son, Thomas James; daughters, Katherine Grace, Elizabeth Marie and Christina Marie; parents, James and Filippa Callahan of North Bellmore; brother, William Callahan of North Bellmore; and grandfather, Umberto Mestron of Sarasota, Fla.

Visiting hours are 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Finch and Bruns Funeral Home in Lynbrook. He will lie in state Monday from 1 to 4 p.m. at Malverne Village Hall and from 7 to 9 p.m. at the funeral home.

A funeral Mass will be said 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in West Hempstead. Burial will follow in Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the James J. Callahan III Family Trust, 725 Colonade Rd., West Hempstead, N.Y. 11552.

With Kery Murakami