Milne Eugene Stearns

Birth: March 28, 1928 | Died: October 25, 2021

Milne Eugene Stearns was born March 28, 1928, in Anaheim, CA to Willis and Joyce Stearns. He was named after Milne Stouffer, one of the ministers who brought the Gospel to his father in Wisconsin. Milne professed to serve God when he was 12 and was faithful to that choice for the rest of his life. When the family was together, he loved to tell the story of his father hearing the Gospel. Milne always carried a Bible in his pickup to read while waiting.

In 1946, Milne graduated from Anaheim Union High School where he was president of the FFA and participated in sports. At the state FFA convention he was elected state sentinel so he went to the national convention in Kansas City. The train trip there was a big event in his youth. He continued to support the AUHS FFA chapter, participated as an alumnus and enjoyed going to the class reunions. He also attended Fullerton Junior College.

Milne married Mary Bone from Buttonwillow in May of 1950. They lived in Orange County, CA where Barbara was born. Milne enjoyed farming and cared for orange groves as did his father. At the end of 1951, they moved to Buttonwillow where Milne farmed cotton and later pistachios. It was here that Douglas, Russell and Carolyn were born. The children helped with chopping and irrigating cotton and driving tractors. In 1964, they hosted a Japanese friend for several months and in later years, Milne & Mary enjoyed a trip to Asia as his guests. Twice, they visited Barbara in Romania.

In 1970, a church convention was moved to Milne & Mary’s farm and Milne planted walnut trees to provide shade. They felt privileged to host the convention there for many years and it was the highlight of their year. Mary passed away in 2006.

Milne married Judy McColl in 2008 and moved to her home in Orange County. In that union he gained four children and 8 grandchildren. Milne and Judy had 13 happy years together and enjoyed traveling, including two trips to Romania, the last trip when Milne was 87! Milne enjoyed life-long learning, taking classes in Spanish, photography, pottery and watercolors. Milne passed away peacefully at home on Oct 25th. Milne was preceded in death by his wife Mary, his parents, Willis & Joyce, his stepfather Henry Burchill and his brothers Stan & Bob and their wives.

Milne is survived by his wife, Judy, his children, Barbara Stearns, Doug & Cynde Stearns, Russ & Nila Stearns, Cari & Truman Denio, and grandchildren, Erik Stearns, Shelly & Eric Morton, Kate & Tim Klaty, Jordan & Laura Denio, Tyler & Gina Denio, David & Jessi Denio, Joseph Stearns and 15 great-grandchildren, as well as step-children, Traci & Roger Terpstra, John & Becky McColl, Missy & Brian Van Dyke, Wendy & Brian Cook, step-grandchildren, Katie & Tanner Emerson, Jake Terpstra, Collin, Graham and Abbie McColl, Dillon and Camille Van Dyke, Kelsey Cook, extended family and many friends.

The funeral service will be held on Sat. Nov. 6 at 10:30 a.m. at the Warco auditorium, 1337 W. Braden Ct, Orange, CA 92868.

Below is a Livestream link to watch the service.

www.warco.com/funeralservice