John Edward McEnearney

John McEnearney, a retired Navy captain who founded McEnearney Associates in 1980 and led the company for nearly three decades as it became one of the top real estate firms in the Washington region, died Oct. 8 at his home in McLean, Va. He was 87.

The cause was renal failure, said his daughter Maureen McEnearney Dunn, who succeeded him as company president in 2007.

Mr. McEnearney began working as a real estate agent in 1976 after his Navy career, including service in Vietnam for which he received the Bronze Star. He opened McEnearney Associates in Alexandria and oversaw its growth to include offices across Northern Virginia, Maryland and the District.

The company, with 350 agents, specializes in residential real estate and handles commercial transactions and property management.

John Edward McEnearney was born Nov. 8, 1926, in Paterson, N.J., and grew up in Trinidad, where his father, an Irish immigrant, ran a car dealership.

Mr. McEnearney, the founder of McEnearney Associates, died Oct. 8 at 87. (Dayna Smith)

The younger Mr. McEnearney graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1949 and later held Navy assignments in Korea, Antarctica, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and at the Pentagon. Before opening his company, he was a real estate agent in Alexandria with the firm of Golubin & Warwick.

Mr. McEnearney’s professional honors included recognition by the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce as business leader of the year in 2006. His philanthropic work included supporting local institutions such as the Hopkins House, a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria; Senior Services of Alexandria; and Children’s National Medical Center.

His wife of six decades, Virginia “Ginny” Myers McEnearney, died in 2009. Survivors include six children, Sean McEnearney of Alexandria, Sharon Bagby of Atlanta, Mark McEnearney of Arlington, Va., and Maureen McEnearney Dunn, Michael McEnearney and Kathy McEnearney, all of McLean; 11 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Arrangements under the direction of Murphy Falls Church Funeral Home, Falls Church, Virginia.