Earle Edwin Cairns was born May 26, 1910, in Oak Lake, Manitoba, Canada, the oldest of four children. As a child he quickly became his father's assistant on their farm. Horses, cows and farm equipment became his lifelong friends. He learned to ride the horses bare-back at an early age and always loved everything about the farm. Until the farm was sold in 1973 he returned every summer for a
month to help with the harvest.
He attended grades 1 through 8 in a one-room school at the edge of the family farm and then attended high school in the nearest town of any size, 20 miles away where he boarded with relatives. He graduated at age 16 and moved to Winnepeg, 160 miles away, to attend Bible school. When he graduated three years later he was asked to remain at the Bible school and become a member of the faculty.
In 1936 he moved to Omaha, Nebraska, receiving his AB from the Municipal University of Omaha, his ThB from the Presbyterian Seminary at Omaha, and his MA and PhD from University of Nebraska at Lincoln. During those years he pastored churches on weekends, served the faculty in their dining room and taught classes in the various institutions in which he studied.
He was the first Protestant chaplain at Boys' Town and worked with its founder, Father Flannigan. From 1941 to 1943 he taught in the Presbyterian Seminary and then received an invitation to teach in the history department at Wheaton College. He remained at Wheaton for the balance of his career, serving as chairman of the history department for 25 years. As a teacher he was known for his organization, clarity, and ability to integrate his theology with history.
In the early fifties he became In 1954 his best-know work, Christianity Through the Centuries, was published; that book is still in widely used, 54 years later; it is now in its third major edition, has been printed in at least twelve languages and has sold over 300,000 copies in the English edition. Other works include A blueprint for Christian Higher Education (1953); Saints and Society (1960); Christianity in the United States (1964); In the Presence of the King (1972); God and Man in Time (1980); An Endless Line of Splendor (1986); A Reader's Guide to the Bible (2002); and Preach the Word! (2005). He also edited The Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary of the Church (1982); served as American Consulting editor for The International Dictionary of the Christian Church (1974) and contributed numerous articles to various works and periodicals.
He was the founder of "The Conference on Faith and History," a professional organization for Christian historians.
He was an active participant in College Church in Wheaton for over 60 years, teaching an adult Bible class for 40 years.
Survivors include his wife JoAnn, his son Bruce, daughter-in-law Linda, grandchildren Benjamin Earle (Celesta Falconi) Cairns, Amanda (Donavon) Cairns Paschall, Melissa (Dan) Cairns Reed, and two great grand-children, Matthew B. Cairns and Nora Jade Paschall, and a brother, Raymond. He was
preceded in death by his first wife, Helen, two brothers, Clinton and Cecil and a sister, Marjorie.
A visitation will be held on Sunday, June 1 from 3 until 7 p.m. at Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., in Wheaton. A memorial service will be held on Monday, June 2, at 11:00 a.m. at College Church in Wheaton, 332 E. Seminary Ave. Interment will be private at Wheaton Cemetery.
Memorials may be directed to Wheaton College, 501 College Avenue, Wheaton, IL 60187, or College Church in Wheaton, 332 E. Seminary Ave., Wheaton, IL 60187.