OCEAN PARK — John Russell Bird, 73, died Monday, May 23, 2016, at Maine Medical Center of a suspected pulmonary embolism.

He had had an anterior cervical fusion discectomy on May 20 and, after being discharged from the hospital with cake and singing on his birthday (May 21), he seemed to be recovering well.

John was born May 21, 1943, at Boston Lying-In Hospital in Boston, and spent his early years in Massachusetts (and, very briefly, Florida) before spending the bulk of his formative years in Maine. He thrived on academic stimulus, and after graduating from Old Orchard Beach High School, he attended M.I.T., University of Hawaii, and several other New England colleges.

He received a degree in computer science from Hawaii Pacific College in the early 1980s (when computers were still a novelty) while setting up and managing HPC’s computer lab.

He was married to Maureen Harriet Brown of Oakfield on July 1, 1968. They made their home in Ocean Park before moving with their two daughters to Hawaii in 1982. After their marriage ended in 1988, John moved to the Washington, D.C., area to work as a government systems analyst.

During that time, he served as the senior civilian database manager for the Centralized Credentials Quality Assurance System (CCQAS), a web-based, worldwide credentialing application that supports more than 105,000 Department of Defense health-care professionals.

He was a devoted and loving son, father and grandfather whose sense of humor, imagination and inquisitive nature made him beloved and exceptionally entertaining to be around.

John was a fervent participant in public service. He served two terms on the Old Orchard Beach town councils (vice chairman and chairman; 1973, 1975), Conservation Commission (vice chairman, 2010- 2011), Charter Commission (2009), Finance Committee, Recycling Committee, School Building Committee (1974), License Ordinance Revision Committee (1976) and Republican Committee (Chair, 1980).

John also volunteered for United Way Day of Caring, REV3 (supporting triathletes during race days), and acted in many community theater productions throughout his life. Favorite roles included Boris Kolenkhov in “You Can’t Take It with You” and the Ghost of Christmas Present in “A Christmas Carol,” both of which he was cast as more than once.

John’s passion for environmentalism led him to co-found the Ocean Park Conservation Society in 1971 to foster, preserve, conserve and promote the natural physical beauty and setting of Ocean Park and its surroundings, and to provide education in the ideals and goals of conservation. He served as its director until his death.

John was preceded in death by his mother, Diana Lucy Bird, in July 2012; and his former wife, Maureen Harriet Bird, in September 2012.

John is survived by his daughters, Kaleo Lisa Alana Leilani Bird and her husband Tú Huynh, and Rebecca Bird and her wife Adrienne McWilliams, as well as grandchildren Magnolia and Calder Huynh.

Services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at Porter Hall in Ocean Park. Remembrance donations may be made to: The Ocean Park Conservation Society, c/o Kaleo Bird, P. O. Box 7043, Ocean Park, ME 04063.