By:Nicole Falco
Clavin's life began and ended in the community that he loved dearly, his son said. He was baptized and married in Holy Name of Mary Church. He raised his children down the street from the church, and on Sept. 8 his funeral Mass took place there. One of Clavin's daughters, Virginia Higgins, of Valley Stream, said her father had expressed pride that her children would be attending Holy Name of Mary School.
"He loved the community of Valley Stream," Donald Clavin Jr. said. "He absolutely adored it, and it meant so much to him."
"He was a very loyal man," said Higgins, "and his life reflected that."
Clavin was one of five boys. Born during the Depression, he worked hard for everything he achieved, according to his family. "It wasn't easy," his son said. "He didn't have a lot, but he really worked hard."
Clavin graduated from Chaminade High School, and went on to the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., earning a degree in 2 1/2 years. He then served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy during World War II. After the war, he attended Harvard Law School. Donald Clavin Jr. said that his paternal grandfather had been a Valley Stream police officer when the community had its own department in the 1920s, and that had influenced his father's decision to study law.
"He had a great respect for the law and a respect for the people in the law," his son said.
After he finished law school, Clavin returned to Valley Stream and became an assistant Nassau County district attorney. He spent 17 years in the D.A.'s office as a prosecutor, and served as chief of the county court trial bureau before he left to open his own practice. Clavin was elected a judge in 1976, and served until 1986. After his retirement, he served as counsel to state Sen. Norman J. Levy until the mid-1990s.
"He was ... a very brilliant man who could have made a lot of money in a big law firm, but he chose public service," said Geroge Herron, a longtime friend. "I admire him for that."
Clavin married "the love of his life," Rosanna McMahon, in 1960, and they raised a son and four daughters. "His kids and his family were always his number one priority," his son said.
Herron echoed that sentiment. "He was a man who put family, faith and community first," he said.
Clavin was a coach of the Valley Stream Soccer Club in the 1970s - his children played for the club - and a lector at Holy Name in the '70s and '80s. He was also a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Clavin spent the last years of his life as a devoted grandfather. Instead of "Grandpa," his eight grandchildren preferred the nickname "Pop-Pop."
Clavin is survived by his wife, son and daughters - Higgins, Mary Hilliard, of Richfield, Conn., Deidre Boyle, of Merrick, and Donna Clavin, of Valley Stream - as well as his grandchildren, Elizabeth, Katie and Matthew Hilliard; Kevin, Conner and Deidre Higgins; and Patrick and Erin Boyle.
Clavin was waked at Lieber Funeral Home.
