Services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, at Valley Church, 10885 N. Stelling Road in Cupertino for John (Jack) McBirney of Morgan Hill who died Nov. 27. He was 83.

Mr. McBirney lived in Menlo Park in the late 1980s. The family business, McBirneyConstruction, built homes and condominiums in Menlo Park, particularly in the downtown area and in the Willows.

Mr. McBirney was born in Toledo and moved to California with his family in 1935. He received his degree in engineering from Stanford University in 1951.

He was a civil engineer in Santa Barbara for 13 years. At that point, he dedicated his life to Christian service as an overseas missionary, working with his wife and family in a ministry to children and teenagers, say family members.

After returning to the United States, he received a master's degree in Christian education from Pensacola University in Florida and founded San Francisco Christian Schools and, later, The King's Academy in Sunnyvale. He retired in 1996.

Mr. McBirney is survived by his wife, Allegra of Morgan Hill; children, Mike of Santa Barbara, Mark of Menlo Park, Connie McKenzie of Rudyard, Michigan, Scott of Menlo Park, David of Morgan Hill, and Kim Windsor of San Martin; and 21 grandchildren.

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