Diamond couple from Louth celebrate sixty years of marriage

Jim and Brenda Foster, 87 and 80, were married in 1959 after meeting a Brenda’s parents’ house.

Jim was a friend of Brenda’s brother, Bryan, and the pals were in the process of building a PBK 17 canoe - a vessel fit for the sea.

The long construction just about inhabited the entire ground floor of the house, and it was under these unusual circumstances that Brenda and Jim caught each other’s eye.

Brenda said: “We kept meeting up, and the following year we were married.”

The pair wed in Mablethorpe Methodist Church on March 30, 1959, surrounded by their family and friends.

They lived in Mablethorpe until 1966, before moving to Louth to the home they still inhabit to this day.

Jim worked at Monk’s Dyke school as the Head of the PE department from 1954 to 1986, while Brenda looked after children for families before taking a job at the wool 
factory in Alford.

However, the couple share a joint passion for fishing.

“Jim’s always been an avid fisherman,” said Brenda.

“In fact that I often used to joke that I was a fisherman’s widow because he’d be fishing at every spare moment.”

Brenda soon decided that she rather fancied a turn at this fishing lark, and so joined her husband.

She laughed: “It actually turned out that I caught more than he did!”

The pair have since enjoyed many fishing trips together.

Jim and Brenda celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary with friends and family - six children and eleven grandchildren - at an open house party in their home on Saturday.

And what’s the secret to a long, successful and happy marriage? Jim has the answer.

“Living by the marriage vows is always very important”, he said.

“As is always being there for each other.”