John and June Baker renew wedding vows at Tallington Lodge Care Home
A husband’s wish to highlight his love for his ‘beautiful wife’ has come true.
John and June Baker live at Tallington Lodge Care Home, where staff have a ‘make a wish’ initiative for residents.
John told Chantal DeVries, wellbeing co-ordinator at the home, about his wish was to renew his wedding vows with June.
John was keen for the it to be a surprise for June, and so the team rallied round to make sure the day was extra special and arranged the renewal on the couple’s 66th wedding anniversary.
Both John and June said they were “overwhelmed and quite emotional” and “so grateful for what everyone has done”
On the day, the team treated June to a pampering session before holding a ceremony, with decorations donated by staff and families that included a flower arch and blossom trees.
Other residents and family members attended the service, which was led by Father Michael, vicar at St Mary’s Church in Stamford, and Donald Gray, a resident at Tallington Lodge who used to be a vicar in Stamford and who read a blessing for the couple.
The day finished with a buffet, champagne and wedding cake.
Home manager Manju Panankavil said: “It was our pleasure to make John’s wish happen - they are a wonderful and very devoted couple.
“We were all touched by his wish to express how much he loves his wife by renewing their vows and only too happy to help make it happen.”
John and June first met in 1953 when June and her friend bumped into John at a railway station after attending night school.
John was a sailor in the Navy and had the evening off to visit family.
They chatted and exchanged addresses before John left the following morning to serve four years in Malta.
John wrote to tell June he would be returning for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and they met up, becoming pen pals before their relationship became more serious.
They married on February 9, 1957, at Fulham Town Hall and returned to live in Stamford when John left the Navy.
June said: “It’s been a beautiful long journey where fate played a role.”
