Longtime valentines share recipes for happiness

Valentine's Day is all about loving and being loved, so some couples in the Quoddy area were asked how they found their life partner and what has made the marriage last.

A snowstorm ride
Robert and Diane Tinker of Lubec have been married 51 years and are still laughing and joking with one another. The two met in a snowstorm when 15-year-old Diane Farmer of South Lubec was walking home with her cousin after seeing a movie. Robert and his brother Ronnie were out for a drive, stopped in front of Malcolm Dodge's old store, and asked the girls if they wanted a ride.
"She looked cold walking down the street," explains Robert with a chuckle. "That's what attracted me to her. And her blond hair and blue eyes.
"And I liked that he was wearing a motorcycle jacket and boots, had wavy brownish/black hair -- and was nice looking," points out Diane.
Robert was working in Boston and was just home for the weekend, but a romantic spark had been struck. "He said he was going to come back and marry me," recalls Diane. They were engaged in December and married a year later at the Ridge Baptist Church parsonage on her 17th birthday, January 6, 1960. The groom was 21. Their attendants were Malcolm and Sally Foss.
"The night we married, we went to Helen's [in Machias]," recalls Diane, as Robert adds, "And they didn't want to give me a pie." By the time the newlyweds finished their big meal, the owners were ready to close for the night and weren't going to serve dessert. "I said, 'I want my apple pie,'" recalls the groom, "And they broke down and gave it to me.
"After driving for Vance Baker and then working at Garnet Green's Seaboard hen farm, the decision was made to move to Boston for employment. Robert became custodian of 27 apartment buildings "and I helped," says Diane. The family grew, as they had a son, Robert Jr., who is now deceased, and two daughters, Sherry Lynn and Kimberly Jean. Sherry married a Murray and lives in Cutler while Kimberly wed a Kelley and resides in Milford, Mass.
Although some of their six grandchildren live in Massachusetts, the Tinkers can visit with them when they go to Tufts University for Diane's frequent medical check-ups. "I had a kidney transplant," reports Diane. "Robert's niece [Brenda Donovan] gave me one of hers.
"Because more people could attend in July than in January, the Tinkers' golden wedding anniversary was officially celebrated last summer. "It was wonderful," says Diane. "Very nice.
"The two agree that the success of their marriage is because they have always worked on it together, literally side-by-side.

Sharing a boat through the ups and downs
Guy and Leota "Gert" Brown Jr. of Wilson's Beach, Campobello, have been married since 1952. They will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary next year.
Guy grew up on Campobello while Leota Lomax's family lived in Little Lepreau. Her nickname resulted from the names her older brothers called Leota and her late twin brother Loren -- "Girlie" and "Boyie" -- to differentiate between them. "Girlie" and "Boyie" gradually turned into "Gertie" and "Boydie," and the names stuck.
Gert's mother, who was an Anthony from Campobello, often visited family members on the island. Gert often accompanied her mother on trips to Wilson's Beach. "Then I stayed with my cousins at aunt Sadie and [uncle] Lesley Newman's so I could go to school there," recalls Gert. "Guy lived about a quarter-mile away, so he started hanging around.
"Sixteen-year-old Gert and Guy began dating, and she thought they were the same age. "He's a year younger. I didn't know that for a long time," she laughs.
Young Guy was cute, but Gert thinks she was attracted to him because "he was a decent fellow, and we had the same sort of background." The couple would go to dances but were just as likely to be found out in a boat. That mutual interest continued, and 15 years ago the couple were still going scalloping together.
Guy and Gert had a small family wedding in the Bethany Independent Baptist Church in Little Lepreau, with Guy's sister, Lillian Kelsey, as the matron of honor and Gert's brother, "Boydie," as best man. The Browns started their married life by living in Little Lepreau for a year but then moved to Campobello, where they raised a family of five, including their son, Burrell, and daughters, Elaine, Tammy, Laurel and Gail. Over the years the family continued to grow; the Browns have seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
One of the darkest days for the Browns was November 19, 2001, when they lost their Wilson's Beach house to fire. The couple had just re-lined the chimney and hadn't gotten their home re-insured when they lost the structure and all the contents. "We had just left the house. I think our television exploded," recalls Gert. "We were in Lubec at the Quik Shop, and someone ran over and said, 'Your house in on fire.' We hurried home right behind the fire truck, but it was too far gone to save anything when we got there.
"Despite the loss of possessions, Gert points out that no one was hurt, and the island neighbors were very generous in helping the Browns get back on their feet.
"We always had our ups and downs, and we'd get over them," notes Gert, as her husband agrees and then adds with a chuckle, "We still haven't figured it out.

Caring at all times
Louis and Barbara Pottle of Eastport celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary last year on September 6. The two met at Shead Memorial High School, where both arrived via different buses. "Every day, for four years, I had to walk a mile from my home on Kendall's Head to 190 and wait for the Indian bus," recalls Barbara. "Louis would come in from Perry on the Calais bus. He'd have to wait until the bus went out late in the afternoon, and then he'd have to walk a mile or better from the Wigwam to his home on Shore Road.
"The couple began dating as soon as Barbara's parents, Benjamin and Clytie Keezer, allowed it. "My parents were totally against it, until I took a friend with me," recalls Barbara. Her pal, the late Helen Kendall, double-dated with Barbara and Louis so they could go to the movies, one of their most frequent destinations. "Neither one of us danced, so we didn't go to those.
"After two-and-a-half years of dating, the young couple were married by the Rev. Cedric Brooks at the Baptist parsonage in Eastport. Barbara's niece, Beverly Jollotta, and Louis' brother, Robert Pottle, stood up with them. "Then we went to Saint John and spent a day and a night there because we hadn't been there before," she says of the brief honeymoon.
Louis was working for Humphries' Dairy when they married and later worked at a Robbinston general store before he went into the military service for two years. The Pottles were living in North Carolina when their first child was still-born. Louis "was going to Japan, so I came home," recalls Barbara. Once back in Perry, Maine, the family began growing, with the addition of their daughter, Linda, and then sons, Louis and Michael. "Linda is married to Howard Johnson, Louis married Betty Kinney and they live in New York, and our youngest son, Michael, and his wife Lanette are in Robbinston where she says they have 'a blended family' -- three children from Michael's first marriage and two from his wife's.
"All of Barbara's grandchildren are doing well in school and at their jobs, which makes her happy. "I'm very proud of them.
"After their children moved out and Louis' health continued to decline, the Pottles moved out of Perry into Eastport. "Louis and I are at Waterview and expect to be there to 'til the end.
"You just have to work together, help out and be there for each other in the rough times and the real good times," sums up Barbara of successful married life. "And the Lord will help us.