Claire Mary (Lyons) Callahan

Claire M. (Lyons) Callahan, beloved wife of Dr. James Callahan, died on February 11, 2016 at the Kaplan Family Hospice Residence in Danvers, after a lengthy illness. She was a daughter of the late Helen (Mahoney) Lyons and Bernard P. Lyons of Danvers. She was graduated from St. Mary’s Girl’s High School, Beverly, and the Fay School, Boston. She graduated with honors from St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, and was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship to the Institut d’Etudes Politiques at the Sorbonne, Paris, France. She also held a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, with additional doctoral study at Fordham University, New York. Her career was devoted to the service of people, principally as educator of youth, and in the prevention and treatment of addiction. The onset of the national problem of drug use and addiction in the 1960s and 1970s, led her to accept a position with the Adult Probation Department, Austin, Texas. As the first female adult probation officer supervisor in the State, she conducted individual and group therapy with felon offenders, principally those with addiction problems. Because of the excellence of its approach to rehabilitation through the use of community-based resources, the Department received a Federal demonstration project grant to conduct an outcome study for replication of the project in other areas of the country. Mrs. Callahan directed the project’s educational component. During this period she was a member of the City of Austin Human Rights Council, was appointed by the Governor to the State of Texas Drug Abuse Policy Task Force, and served on the Board of Directors of the Catholic Lay Mission Corps, an organization of volunteer teachers in needy areas. Following their marriage in 1970, she and Dr. Callahan moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where, as a counseling psychologist, she continued her work with young adults addicted to drugs. The Governor of Georgia appointed her to the State Committee on Youth and Drugs. She also served on the Metropolitan Atlanta Council on Alcohol and Drugs, and was staff psychologist at the Georgia Regional Hospital of Atlanta, a facility for mentally ill and developmentally disabled. She and her husband moved to Washington, D.C. where Dr. Callahan directed the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and, later, the American Board of Addiction Medicine. Mrs. Callahan continued her work in the addictions at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the National Institutes of Health. There, in a collaborative program between NIAAA and the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), she oversaw the development of curricula to educate primary care physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers and other health care professionals to prevent and treat addiction. In recognition of her work, she received the Administrator’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. She served on expert committees to review and make recommendations on applications for federal grants and contracts for medical and health professions education in addiction medicine. Many of the physicians trained under the NIAAA/NIDA programs were instrumental in forming the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and the American Board of Addiction Medicine. At the invitation of the Ministry of Health, and the National Council on Alcoholism of Ireland she directed the first national training program in Ireland to educate health professionals to develop hospital and community-based programs for prevention, intervention and treatment of alcoholism and other drug addictions. In all of her endeavors she wanted to bring healing and hope to persons in crisis. Her work was supported by her strong spiritual faith. Claire was particularly sensitive to broken-hearted parents whose children were addicted to alcohol or other drugs. Earlier in her career, she taught history and was school psychologist at secondary schools in Virginia, Washington, D.C., Texas, and Maryland. One of the greatest joys of her life was teaching underprivileged children in New York’s “Hell’s Kitchen.” During her teens she was a Red Cross Swim Instructor at North Shore beaches, and a playground instructor in Danvers. She and her husband resided in Topsfield from 2002 until her death. She is survived by her beloved husband, James, with whom she shared forty-five wonderful years of marriage, and her brother, John Lyons of Danvers. She is predeceased by her parents, her brothers, Philip Patrick, and Joseph, and her sister Eleanor. She also leaves many nieces and nephews, and was particularly close to her nephew, John P. Lyons, and to her nieces Mary (Briane) Lyons Ritchie, Donna (Ralph) Lyons Newhall, Deborah (Timothy) Lyons Wilson, and Nancy Lyons, with all of whom she had close and loving ties. Since her retirement, her greatest pleasures were the times spent with her family and husband, and the memories she and her husband shared of their travels. She was an avid reader, and had a remarkable sense of humor. Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9AM on Tuesday, February 16, 2016 in St. Rose of Lima Church, 12 Park St., Topsfield. Burial will follow in Annunciation Cemetery, Danvers. Visiting hours will be held Monday from 4-8PM at C.R. Lyon & Sons, Funeral Directors, 28 Elm St Danvers. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Claire’s name may be made to The American Board of Addiction Medicine Foundation to train physicians to prevent and treat addiction: Arcade Suite 101, 4601 North Park Ave., Chevy Chase, MD 20815; www.abamfoundation.org.