Former Wheaton College professor almost reaches century

Even into his 90s, Earle Cairns could be found high up on a ladder cleaning the eaves of his home. At 92, he took a train ride all the way from Illinois to Colorado just so he could give the invocation for the Colorado State Senate. At 95, he published his ninth book.

Some would say Mr. Cairns longevity was a testimony to his health. But those close to him believe it was a testimony to all the testimonies he chronicled, preached and lived.

Mr. Cairns, a former chairman of the history department at Wheaton College, died May 28, just two days after his 98th birthday. He'd recently suffered a major heart attack.

The path to Wheaton College began with a decision to attend Bible school as a 16-year-old Canadian. Mr. Cairns received an invitation to teach at Wheaton College in 1943 after completing his time at a Presbyterian seminary in Nebraska. He spent the next 25 years in the college's history department.

While there, Mr. Cairns became a prolific author. His best-known work, "Christianity Through the Centuries" has sold more than 300,000 copies and been translated into languages as exotic as Farsi.

"For those who are my contemporaries in college at the time, they all held him in high regard," said Tom Kay, a one-time student and later a colleague of Mr. Cairns. "He was a scholar and a writer and someone who had a genuine interest in his students throughout his life."

The impressions Mr. Cairns left on the printing press may not be as lasting as the ones he made at home with his son, Bruce.

As a child, Bruce Cairns traveled with his father through 47 states and all the Canadian provinces. Mr. Cairns often spent summers in Canada, pursuing an interest in machinery and cars. It was partly those summers that lead Bruce into the automotive profession as an adult. But it was also the ideals Mr. Cairns believed in that led his son to a spot in the Colorado State Senate. Bruce Cairns was a Republican state senator on the day his father delivered that invocation after taking the long train ride to Colorado in 2002. In some ways, it was symbolic of the journeys they'd taken together throughout their lives. Bruce Cairns still points to a tour of Israel he took with his father and stepmother, Joann, in 1981 as one of the most memorable moments of his life.

"I'm a '60s-era guy," Bruce Cairns said. "We saw a lot of kids go against the Wheaton traditions back then. So he must have set enough of a consistent Christian example for me, certainly enough to allow me to remain that way my whole life."

Earle Cairns was preceded in death by his first wife, Helen. He leaves behind his second wife, Joann; son, Bruce; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.