April 27, 2008

Joseph Edward Lavin, 58

Springfield – Joseph Edward Lavin, 58, passed away on Sunday, April 27, 2008 at Heritage Hall West Health Care Center. His last days were spent with friends and family in his garden. Born in Glens Falls on August 22, 1949, he was the son of the late Edward and Kathleen (Murphy) Lavin. Joe graduated from Whitehall High School in 1967 and from SUNY at Plattsburgh with a BA in Education in 1971. He traveled extensively after college, living in New Orleans, San Francisco, Florida and New York City. Joe served in the Peace Corps in South Korea and VISTA in Philadelphia. Joe worked at The Brandon Training School in Vermont until 1983. He lived in Springfield, Mass., for the past twenty-four years and worked for Sullivan Associates for the last twenty-four years as a clinical therapist. Joe was a loving son, brother, uncle and friend. Joe spent his life doing for others. He inherited his mom’s “green thumb.” His legacy of beautiful flowers lives on in the yards and gardens of countless relatives and friends. Joe’s constant companions were his pugs. Survivors include his sister Mary Terry and her husband Timothy, three brothers, Thomas Lavin and his wife Sandy, John Lavin, and Kevin Lavin and his wife Claire, his nieces and nephews, Christopher, Eric and Paul Terry, Colleen, Dennis, and Bridget Lavin, Nicholas Palumbo, Rebecca and Rachel Lavin, John A. Lavin, his great nieces and nephew, Connor, Claire, and Kathleen Terry and his very close friend, Douglas Towse, and his wife, Christine, and their children. Friends and relatives gathered in Joe’s memory at his home and garden at 33 Arden St., Springfield, Mass., on Saturday May 3. Family and friends called at the Agawam Funeral Home, 184 Main St., Agawam, MA on Friday, May 2