LYNDEN — In a life that has spanned nearly seven decades, Dennis Cairns has navigated struggles and triumphs with resilience, faith and an unwavering commitment to family.
From his youth as a rock band frontman to a career in technology and his second act as a photographer, the Lynden resident has always been a man in motion, adapting, evolving and striving for something greater.
Today, at 69, Dennis can often be found behind the camera, capturing fleeting moments with the precision of someone who understands the weight of time.
But before the days of freelance photography, he was a young father struggling to make ends meet, a man who found his faith when life seemed most uncertain and ultimately, a professional who carved a successful career in the tech industry through hard work and determination.
Dennis was just out of high school when he became a father for the first time in 1975. At the time, he was in a rock band, fully immersed in the music scene. His wife, Susan, was still in high school when they found out they were expecting.
“I was a kid having kids. I was a hippie,” Dennis said.
With little support from their families, the young couple found themselves navigating parenthood on their own.
“We were dating for probably over a year or so,” he said. “We got married and were poor,” he said.
In those early years, life was tumultuous. Between 1975 and 1978, the Cairns welcomed four children in rapid succession.
“We had a 1-year-old, 2-year-old, 3-year-old, and then we skipped a year and had another one. So within five years, we had four kids,” he said with a laugh.
The weight of providing for a young family at such an early age was staggering, but everything changed when faith entered their lives in 1978.
Amidst financial struggles and the challenges of raising four young boys, Dennis and Susan had a turning point when they became Christians in 1978.
“We were in a bad situation, and we met people that were Christians, and they talked to us about their faith. And we were convicted that we needed Christ,” Dennis said.
That year, Dennis left behind the rock-and-roll lifestyle.
“I stopped being part of the rock band and playing in bars and being away from my wife and leaving her home with the kids to be a father and a husband,” he said.
Faith provided guidance, but they still needed financial stability. Through a connection at church, Dennis landed an entry-level job in electronics.
“I had enough background from doing that correspondence course through the mail for electronics to get in. And like I said, I got hired. I got 25 cents more than the minimum wage at $2.50,” he said.
That first job in tech was a crucial stepping stone. Within a few years, he worked his way up, took computer science courses at night, and eventually found himself at Sun Microsystems. When Oracle acquired Sun in 2000, he stayed on as an operations manager, handling strategic planning for U.S. and Canadian field engineers.
Through years of grinding, Dennis had secured a career that ensured his family’s well-being — a stark contrast to the instability of his early years.
One of the darkest chapters in Dennis’s life came in 1984 when his family lost their home and had nowhere to go.
“We were basically homeless,” he said. “We had all four kids. We basically just drove around in the car all summer, going from hotel to hotel.”
It wasn’t a matter of lacking income. Dennis had a job, but finding a place that would rent to a young couple with four kids was nearly impossible.
“Back then, when you went to rent something with kids, they kind of looked at you like … trailer trash. They didn’t really want to be bothered,” he said.
For Ian, the oldest of the four boys, it was a defining period.
“Some of it was where we lived… they wanted us to be there because they knew it was a good area, good place to grow up, good schools, but it was a little more expensive to live there,” Ian said. “You get stuck in a situation, where there’s nothing you can do. You gotta get out, you don’t have somewhere to go.”
At 12 years old, Ian remembered the reality of sleeping in cars and bouncing between motels.
“There were a couple times we stayed in the car overnight, and I remember those nights very clearly,” Ian said. “But we knew we’d get through it because my parents were so supportive.”
Eventually, they secured housing through a church connection. By the mid-1990s, the family had purchased their first home.
Through it all, Dennis remained a constant presence in his children’s lives.
“He was always just a super hard worker,” Ian said. I think we get a lot of who we are now — at least I do — based on just watching my dad and seeing how he treated us and what he did for us.”
Ian, 49, lives in Bellingham and works as a designer. Jason, 48, is based in Barre, Vt., and is the director of an assisted living facility. Mark, 47, is an executive chef in Conover, S.C. Jake, 45, is a school IT technician in Tehachapi, Calif.
“I think my kids saw what I went through, and they decided, ‘I’m not going through that,’” Dennis said.
His unwavering support as a father is something Ian deeply values.
“He’s just always there for you,” he said. “Whenever you need something, something’s going wrong … Even when things are great, he’s just always there.”
Dennis’s transition from tech to photography wasn’t immediate. He first dabbled in photography in the 1990s, shooting high school sports for a local paper. When his kids went off to college, he put it aside. But in 2006, after moving to Washington to be closer to Ian and his growing family, he picked it up again.
“I use landscape as a hobby, but I consider myself a professional sports photographer,” Dennis said.
For Dennis, photography is more than a pastime — it’s a way of preserving moments.
“Something about catching life in the thousandth of a second … that one moment in time that will, as long as they’re alive and the pictures last, be frozen forever,” he said.
He freelanced for local newspapers in New Jersey and later in Washington, where he’s become a staple at high school sporting events. Even today, after decades of hard work, he still finds joy in capturing images.
As Dennis approaches his 50th wedding anniversary with Susan, he credits her as the rock that kept their family together.
“She was the anchor,” he said. “She sacrificed a lot for sure. She could have had a career, but she wanted to stay close to the kids. She felt that was her calling.”
Now, with 10 grandchildren, Dennis finds fulfillment in watching the next generation thrive.
“My youngest grandkid is in kindergarten and my oldest grandson is a sophomore in college. That’s the span — kindergarten to college in between,” he said with a laugh.
Through all the hardships and triumphs, Dennis remains humble. His legacy is not just in the photographs he takes, but in the lives he’s shaped — his children, his grandchildren and the moments he’s captured through his lens.
For Ian, his father’s impact is clear.
“He’s just a great guy. Hardworking, supportive, positive. You can always count on him.”