John Harry Jenks
July 20, 1924-Dec. 28, 2017
Atherton, CA, California

John spent his early childhood in Iowa and North Carolina and at the age of 13 his family relocated to Palo Alto where he remained until moving to Atherton in 1963. He graduated from Stanford with a BA and two masters degrees in Civil Engineering (1948) and played the violin in the Stanford Symphony. In WWII, he served as a Navy Lieutenant in the Philippines.

He was an avid athlete who enjoyed skiing, tennis, and basketball. He built numerous small sail boats and sailed competitively, ranking in the top ten nationally for a decade, and three years as the Pacific Coast Champion. He received his pilot’s license in 1949 and owned numerous airplanes, which he mostly flew for business.

During his 60-year consulting career in engineering, his firm was involved in the design of 150 wastewater and reclamation projects, 11 of which were recipients of Engineering Excellence Awards, and three judged to be the best environmental engineering project nationally for that year. Merging in 1979, the company is currently known as Kennedy/Jenks Consultants.

He’s survived by his wife Laurie (married in 1952), children (Sharon, Linda, David, Nancy), grandchildren (Andrew, Emily, Kelly, Peyton, Bix, Renny), and 4 great grandchildren (Hayden, Austin, Blake, and Laine).

He was active in leadership roles at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church since 1953, served on Board of Trustees of Westmont College (35 years), Board of Directors and Trustee of Mount Hermon Association, Board of Directors of Presbyterian Lay Committee, and a Director of the Church of the Pioneers Foundation.

John lived a life of service, leadership, and devotion to Jesus, whom he so dearly loved.

Tags: business