by Linda Dobson, Town Supervisor
During the month of June, the Wheatland Town Government experienced the loss of our long time Town Attorney, John W. Glavin, ESQ. Many in the area simply knew him as “their attorney”. John was the attorney who made house visits to those who were unable to leave their home, or the attorney who met them in his own home to prepare legal documents because “it saved them the trouble of driving into the city”. He was the legal equivalent of the “country doctor”. He received his education at the University of Notre Dame and Fordham Law School. While attending both schools he embraced their guiding principles of fairness, humbleness, honesty, respect of privacy and service to others.
I had the pleasure of working with John both as a councilwoman and as supervisor. After his beloved wife Joan passed in 2013, it was my privilege to become a “family friend” to him and his four daughters. Rather than deciding to move near one of his children, John made the decision to stay in the community that was near and dear to him and which held so many warm memories. We are a community that benefited from his decision. He continued to provide legal counsel to clients and the Town, while later also struggling with his own health issues. His strong faith and love of all things Wheatland provided him the opportunity to live out his remaining years actively involved in the community while still living independently in his own home on Browns Ave. in Scottsville.
As I began to gather information for this article, I soon realized the full extent of how much service John had provided to the greater Wheatland community. Through communication with the Village of Scottsville and the Wheatland-Chili School District, it was clear that John had spent a large portion of his professional hours dedicated to supporting the leadership of our three major public entities. He served as Wheatland Chili School District Attorney from 1975 – 1997 (22 years), Village of Scottsville Attorney from 1966 – 1976 (10 years), and Wheatland Town Attorney from 1971- 1972, 1977-1993 and 1996-2019 (40 years).
Through the years, so many of us in our community gained significantly from knowing John, enjoying his wit and humor, benefiting from his significant depth of knowledge related to the inner workings of our community, along with his downright, down-home honest approach to all matters associated with the people he took pleasure in serving. He will be missed but will always have a place in the history of Wheatland.