St. John Plantation couple celebrates 70 wedded years > Dubes have lessons for all

ST. JOHN PLANTATION — Their love for each other and their belief in God have kept Joseph and Lena Dube together for 70 years.

Joseph, who will be 95 in the fall, said the two have known each other all their lives. “She’s smarter than me,” he said. “We were in the same class at school and I was much older. She’s now 88.” They were married on June 20, 1923.

On June 23, family and friends gathered at a Fort Kent restaurant to celebrate the couple’s 70 years together. Among their gifts were good wishes from the Legislature.

The Dubes live now at Pleasant Valley apartments. In previous years they took care of their own home in St. John Plantation.

Except for short stints in Connecticut and at St. Francis, the Dubes have lived in St. John Plantation all their lives.

One of 14 children of Paul Dube and Mary Oakes, Joseph was married to Lena Caron, one of 10 children of Joseph Caron and Jane Emery, by the Rev. Vincent Bardin at St. Charles Church in St. Francis.

They raised two foster children. The first was Conrad Berube, whose mother died from childbirth complications, and Berube’s daughter, Doreen Berube, who now lives in Houston, Texas, with three children of her own.

Times were hard in the old days, Joseph Dube remembered. He was a lumberjack and a farm employee for most of his life. He worked the Fred Pelletier farms in St. John Plantation for more than 22 years.

Lena Dube also worked on farms and for mothers who needed help. “I worked in people’s homes for $1 a week,” she said.

“I worked for farmers when we built our home. I was making $2.50 a week and the carpenter was charging me $2.50 a week to build our home,” said Joe.

To make ends meet, he had a second job evenings. “I made more on my part-time job than working my regular job,” he said. At night he debarked logs used for utility poles. That work paid 50 cents a pole.

As a lumberjack he took part in spring drives on northern Maine rivers. He was working in the woods for Bill Pinkham when he retired at age 63.

“Even after I retired, I was able to make $1,250 a year and still get Social Security. I was a bull cook for Pinkham.” He cared for lumber camps until he was 70.

They savored their years growing up in large families at home. Today, Lena Dube said, “people are smarter. They have smaller families. It’s hard to raise children today. It’s very expensive.”

They have been at Pleasant Valley Apartments for three years. Joe is in better health than his wife so he cares for the small apartment and cooks most of their meals. Three times a week a woman comes in to help out.

He still drives his car around the St. John Valley.

Both have a strong faith in God. “We loved each other,” he said. “God kept us together, he kept me up and about. He gave me good health to work and keep going.”