The Wheaton students and faculty who knew Edith Blumhofer grieved to hear that she had passed away on March 5 after a valiant struggle against pancreatic cancer. Yet her death was also an opportunity to thank God for the life of a fine historian, unassuming administrator, and superb teacher.

As a scholar in her own right, Edith was among the first to publish scholarly books on the history of Pentecostalism. Extensive digging into archives and old newspapers also made her an unusually effective biographer. Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody’s Sister explained the complex life of the celebrity evangelist who founded the Foursquare Gospel Church. Equally compelling was Her Heart Can See: The Life and Hymns of Fanny J. Crosby, which captured the personality as well as the renown of the famous hymnwriter.

As the director of Wheaton’s Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals, Edith secured major grants that funded well-attended conferences and well-received books. In cooperation with ISAE colleagues—especially long-time associate Larry Eskridge—she showed how subjects like evangelical missions, American hymnody, and evangelical women’s history could both engage scholars and enlighten the public at large.

Edith also devoted unusual energy to mentoring students. With the assistants who worked with her at the ISAE, she enjoyed a particularly close relationship, including helping several to begin successful professional careers of their own. For many years Edith also taught the “Introduction to History” course for Wheaton sophomores. 

In opening her home to students from that class, just as she did by hosting many dinners for department faculty, she and her husband Ed were models of generous hospitality. 

No one has ever lived up to all of the high aspirations that Wheaton spells out for its students and faculty. But Edith Blumhofer came close.