Memorial service Saturday for former CIU president

COLUMBIA, SC To many who knew him, Robertson McQuilkin’s life was defined in one moment.

He was 62, McQuilkin retired as president of Columbia International University to take care of his wife, who suffered with Alzheimer’s disease. In his 1990 retirement speech, McQuilkin said he wanted to care for her in sickness and in health.

“At the height of his career, he stepped away with a simple, yet powerful decision,” said Bill Jones, the private Christian college’s current president. “And it’s one that we all deeply admire and hope we can emulate if we ever have to one day.”

McQuilkin died Thursday at age 88, leaving behind colleagues, students and friends who knew him as a gifted leader and a humble servant. A memorial service for McQuilkin will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in Shortess Chapel on CIU’s campus in north Columbia.

During McQuilkin’s 22 years as president, CIU enrollment doubled. The college also expanded its reach with Christian radio stations in Columbia and Charlotte. Ben Lippen School also moved its campus to CIU’s Columbia campus from Asheville, N.C.

“He was someone who had vision and yet really understood the practical issues of leading a school,” said Shirl Schiffman, a ministry studies professor at CIU.

McQuilkin was a gifted speaker who could explain in-depth theological teachings in layman’s terms, friends say. His favorite Bible verse, Jones said, was 2nd Corinthians 3:18, which refers to Christians’ transformation into God’s image.

It was a message that McQuilkin touched on frequently in his writings, Jones said. McQuilkin also traveled the United States and the world on mission trips.

Before becoming president at CIU, his alma mater, McQuilkin spent 12 years in Japan, where he founded five churches and was interim president of Japan Christian College.

McQuilkin also wrote 19 books, some after his retirement. One of the most popular was “A Promise Kept,” which described McQuilkin’s care for his wife, Muriel.

“It’s not that I have to,” McQuilkin said during his retirement speech. “It’s that I get to.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Memorial service Saturday for former CIU president."