Dr. Edmund A.M. Cairns

History Biographical: Dr. Cairns was born in Nelson, British Columbia in 1911, one of four children of Thomas and Alice Cairns. He attended the University of British Columbia and then the University of Alberta, where he completed his medical degree in 1934. Dr. Cairns took postgraduate training in Pediatric Medicine in Edmonton, Alberta, Toronto, Ontario and Boston, Massachusetts. In 1938 Dr. Cairns was a founding partner in the Haig Clinic with Drs. Willard R. Haig, Hugh Alexander Arnold, Arthur A. Haig and J. Ernest Ayre. Dr. Cairns was the first pediatrician to practice south of Calgary. He was the Chief of Pediatrics in both Lethbridge Municipal Hospital and St. Michael's Hospital. On 13 May 1939 Dr. Cairns married Jean Sharpe in Lethbridge. They met in Toronto while Dr. Cairns was doing his residency. The couple had two children: Nancy and Ross. Jean Cairns died on 23 October 1989, and Dr. Cairns married his second wife Gert Munroe on 7 September 1991. Dr. Cairns served as President of the Downtown Rotary Club, Kinsmen Club, Lethbridge Country Club and the Red Cross Society. He served as a director on the boards of the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce, Lethbridge Symphony Association, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge Foundation and the Lethbridge Curling Club. Dr. Cairns enjoyed gardening, curling, golf, fishing, stained glass work and photography. Dr. Eddie Cairns died on 7 January 2006 at age 95. [Source: The Lethbridge Herald, 11 January 2006]