Necrology

Donald Martin Mawhinney, Jr. '49

Jan. 23, 1926-Jul. 15, 2020

From his military service in World War II, to his success as an attorney and his dedication to his Central New York community, Donald Martin Mawhinney, Jr. ’49 lived a life of impact.

He loved collaborating with others for the common good, his family noted in a published obituary. That’s evident from his decades of wide-ranging public service.

Mawhinney, of Fayetteville, N.Y., died on July 15, 2020, at age 94. 

His accomplishments included serving as a founding director of Onondaga Community College, where he was active for more than 56 years, and on the Onondaga County board of supervisors (now the county legislature) during the formative years of 1958 to 1965. Mawhinney practiced law for 65 years, for most of that time in the Syracuse, N.Y., area.

He was born on Jan. 23, 1926, in Syracuse, graduating from Nottingham High School. According to his obituary, he attended Syracuse University, and then, at age 17, in April 1944 before D-Day, enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private.

Transferred into the Army Air Corps, he attended armorer and gunnery schools and served, with the rank of corporal, as a nose gunner on a B-24 bomber. He went on to Officer Candidate School, becoming commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Cavalry, where he served as a tank platoon commander. After the war, Mawhinney continued his military career in the Army Reserve from 1946 to 1950, attaining the rank of first lieutenant.

Mawhinney wrote in a reunion yearbook about his earliest encounter with Hamilton. “Starting with my service in World War II [and] attending Hamilton College in 1944 as a member of the Army Specialized Training Program, I have been learning from Hamilton about life and values,” he said. “It gave me a solid education which enabled me to move on to law school and a career in the legal profession, which fortunately has been successful. It has also allowed me to participate in many government civic and professional activities at the same time.”

After the war, Mawhinney returned to Hamilton. He joined Psi Upsilon fraternity and was a member of the International Relations and Camera clubs and the Debate Team.

“The only man in Psi U to have a car three years on the Hill,” stated his senior yearbook, “he easily financed his weekly excursions to Syracuse. A poly sci major, he supplemented his knowledge of international relations with blood-curdling war stories. Receiving a Block H for his tantalizing tennis game, Don also found time to manage the varsity basketball team. With his facility and finesse in argumentation, he is well on the road (at 7 cents a mile) to becoming a successful barrister.”

That was true. Mawhinney graduated from Cornell Law School and first practiced law in 1952 at the Wall Street firm Beekman & Bogue, eventually signing on with a Syracuse law firm, now Barclay Damon LLP, where he became a partner in 1958. He practiced general law there for 65 years, representing clients in 23 countries outside the U.S.

Throughout his career, Mawhinney made time for extensive civic work. He was a member of the Onondaga County board of supervisors when it created a county executive branch. At one point, as an Onondaga Community College trustee, he was the longest serving trustee in the State University of New York system. He was a founding trustee of the Erie Canal Museum, serving there for 48 years. And he was appointed by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller to be chairman of the state Erie Canal Park Planning Committee, among other public service.  

 He stepped up for his alma mater, too, serving on the Alumni Council. “Hamilton gave me a good academic foundation and entry to an excellent law school. It provided role models like American statesmen, Philip Jessup, Elihu Root, and Sol Linowitz,” Mawhinney wrote in a reunion yearbook.

He was a deacon, elder trustee, and attorney for Park Central Presbyterian Church and a member of the New York Seniors Golf Association, the Sons of the American Revolution, the American Legion, and many other organizations. 

His numerous awards and accolades include the 1962 Junior Chamber of Commerce Young Man of the Year Award; a distinguished service award from the National Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges; and a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review AV rating for very high to preeminent ethical standards and legal ability.

He and his family spent many summers at their home on Big Moose Lake in Eagle Bay, N.Y., and they took annual ski trips to Vail, Colo.

Mawhinney was predeceased by his wife of 62 years, the former Gail Sargent. Survivors include his four children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

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