On a warm July evening in 1954 in the city of Boston, a tall, handsome medical student and a young, pretty dietician with auburn hair and a traffic-stopping smile found themselves standing in the same elevator at New England Baptist Hospital. They had noticed each other in the dining hall on previous occasions, and each had wondered how they might meet; the young woman was about to leave the hospital for a teaching job and the young man would soon be returning to medical school.

On this one afternoon, the Lord guided their steps, bringing them from opposite directions in the hallway to meet spontaneously in the elevator where they struck up a conversation… which led to having dinner together in the hospital dining room… which led to walking through the city over to the Esplanade on the Charles River for a free Boston Pops concert. The young man shelled out a whole nickel on a twin Popsicle, broke it in two, and gave half to his date. They have walked together and shared everything since that day.

Two years later, on June 2, 1956, Richard and Joanne Cain were married at Park Street Baptist Church in Framingham, Massachusetts. He was 26, she was 24.

Their 60th wedding anniversary was celebrated by their church family at Boothbay Baptist on Sunday, June 5, with a special luncheon held in their honor.

They had grown up not far from one another, Richard on a chicken farm in Marlborough, Mass. and Joanne a couple towns away in Framingham. Both strong believers, they centered their marriage on Christ.

The weekend they were married, 60 years ago, was a whirlwind: on Friday Joanne finished teaching home economics and sewing at Hingham High School; Friday night was their rehearsal dinner; Saturday was the wedding; on Sunday Richard was graduated from Boston University Medical School; and on Monday they took off on their honeymoon and began life together by taking a month to drive to southern California where Richard would start his residency in San Bernardino.

They would make the drive back and forth across the country 45 times over the years as they came back to Maine in the summers or changed jobs and moved from California to Kentucky to Staten Island, New York, then to San Francisco, and finally to Apple Valley in southern California where they landed in 1964.

They settled into a sunny life in the high desert of Apple Valley, busily raising three children along with chickens, goats, ponies, sheep, steer and a horse. They built a comfortable home on land they had purchased in what was then a small, rural town. In addition to animals for meat and eggs, the gentleman farmer-doctor and the home economist raised their own fruits and vegetables and canned them, pinching pennies every way they could. Richard enjoyed the farm work, and, despite a lifelong battle with chronic back pain, built stables, corrals, fences, and even a huge windmill which could be seen for miles around. He was ingenious in rigging up an extensive system of water irrigation to produce all kinds of trees and plants in the desert.

Dr. Cain was the first and, for a time, the only anesthesiologist on staff at St. Mary’s Desert Valley Hospital, where he would routinely pray with patients before their surgeries. He became a favorite among hospital staff, especially cafeteria workers whom he learned to greet in their native Spanish or Tagalog, the language of the Philippines.

Joanne was busy not only managing home and family but also, as Richard’s business partner, managing the home office for his private practice, doing billing and bookkeeping. Generous as he is, Richard would often extend credit to patients; and sometimes, creative as he is, would barter his anesthesia services for livestock feed. Joanne made her own and the children’s clothes, and she taught sewing to 4-H clubs and to her daughters who became so adept that they made all of their own clothes.

They were leaders of Apple Valley Baptist Church, their beloved church home for 32 years where they taught Sunday school, led children’s church and served as Deacon and Deaconess. They made three mission trips to Ecuador where Richard lent his medical expertise to hospitals and jungle clinics.

In 1997 Richard and Joanne drove across the country again, this time to retire permanently to Boothbay Harbor. Joanne had grown up summering in the midcoast, on Juniper Point in Boothbay Harbor, and later on Southport. They bought a house in Bayville which has taxed their patience as they have done various remodeling projects over the years. But it has provided a beautiful place for family and friends to enjoy their warm hospitality, been the site of Bible studies, and given them a peaceful abode in a caring, close-knit community.

The Cains have had a long relationship with Boothbay Baptist Church, Joanne visiting since she was 15, around the time the old chapel was built in 1947, and Richard since 1955. They have continued to be active church members here, serving on boards, volunteering for Junior Church, helping with Vacation Bible School, generously supporting various ministries, mentoring pastors and leaders, hardly ever missing a prayer meeting or Bible study, quietly cleaning the pews, and being ultra-vigilant prayer warriors who always stop what they are doing when a prayer request comes their way. Their generosity when it comes to people and the work of the Lord is unmatched. They are cheerful givers of their time, talent and treasure.

They have been blessed with three children — Carolyn, Joyce, and David — and their spouses and five grandchildren, as well as 150 close friends they are still in touch with at Christmas time!

To know the Cains is to see how much they love, respect, and enjoy each other. Daughter Carolyn notes, “They always prefer the other over themselves. It’s as if one’s wish is the other’s now. ‘If she wants a lavender wall, then that's what I want,’ Richard might say. And Joanne: ‘If he wants to drive a VW Rabbit into the ground, then that's what I want, too.’”

Joanne says, “From day one, I was always comfortable with him.” And with a smile she declares, “I am married to my best friend.”

Richard says, “If you want to be married to a princess, treat her like a princess.”

“And he does,” Joanne is quick to point out.

We, their church family, are blessed to receive their godly wisdom and observe the role models they are of character forged through hard work, perseverance and obedience to the Lord. Richard and Joanne are inspiring examples, both individually and as a couple, of humility, compassion, hospitality, and faithful service.

And as we congratulate the Cains on their 60th anniversary, we must quote Richard: “God is good, all the time!”