Hundreds Honor Legacy, Mourn Loss of Jim Callahan

With heavy hearts, hundreds gathered at in West Hempstead Tuesday morning to say their final goodbyes to James Callahan III and honor the impact he made on so many lives.

The Malverne Deputy Mayor and Commissioner of Emergency Management for Nassau County was carried into the church, where he had been a parishioner, and joined with family, friends, neighbors, elected officials and uniformed police, firefighters and school children.

A father of four, Callahan, who after doctors discovered only weeks ago he had cancer, is survived by his beautiful wife, Patricia, son, Thomas, 12, and three daughters, Katherine, 9, Elizabeth, 6, and 3-year-old Christina.

The strength he portrayed as a leader of his village and a manager of disaster preparedness for his County was present ever still in his family. His children participated in the presentation of the gifts of bread and wine to the priest during the Catholic funeral Mass, and his wife - despite admitting she doubted whether her emotions would permit her to address the crowd - delivered a heartfelt eulogy to her beloved husband.

"The emptiness I feel inside words can not express," Patricia Callahan said to the congregation before sharing with them her memories of Jim, as most called him.

"We were best friends," she said, saying that a typical day for the couple included saying "I love you" quite often and even when apart for work purposes, they remained tethered together through their Blackberry phones.

That love also extended to their children, she explained, saying Callahan would leave notes for them to find when he was away on business to remind them how much he cared.

Patricia said what impressed her most about her husband was his selflessness and humility, explaining that he was always eager to help others, yet content with staying in the background.

"He never took the credit," she added.

Aware that her husband touched so many lives, Patricia said she knew how important it was to include everyone in giving Jim a proper "send off." At the same time, she also called upon those present to pay it forward by helping others as he so often did.

"It is up to all of us here today to fill the tremendous void left by Jim's absence," she said.

She also thanked all of those who had been by her side in the weeks since Callahan was first admitted to the hospital when he suffered a stroke in early April, including Malverne Mayor Patricia Norris McDonald and her husband, Steven. She said the couple "gave Jim hope in his final days."

Most importantly, Patricia, also said that her loss should serve as a reminder to everyone of how "fragile and precious our lives are"....and to cherish what really matters - spending time with family and friends and not worrying about the "the small stuff."

Prior to her speech, she also asked her brother, Joseph Canzoneri, Jr., to share his thoughts on Jim, who had been like a brother to him.

Quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., Canzoneri said, "Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness."

Callahan's was a life spent walking along this first path, Canzoneri explained, saying that in the 20 years he knew Jim, he devoted much of his time to serving others, including his family and the community he so loved.

"He lived a very full life," he added.

Malverne Trustee Michael Bailey and Mayor McDonald also participated in the service. McDonald read a notable passage from the Bible that conveyed the overall message of the Mass - that Jim's death did not in fact mark his end, but rather that his life would continue on through his beliefs, his legacy and the love he gave.

"Love..." she read, "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

As Callahan was escorted out of the church, an honor guard formed outside along Westminster Road, where two helicopters performed a "fly by," before he was taken to his final resting place at Holy Rood Cemetary in Westbury.

Click here to view a video of the ceremony outside the church.