Ronald R. Bean and his wife Joan Elizabeth were in great spirits on Sunday, enjoying every moment of the celebration laid on by family and friends marking their diamond wedding.Ronald is a deep-sea fisherman nowadays. But he did not have to go into the deep to find the love of his life. They were close neighbours and school sweethearts, both aged 21 when they exchanged vows 60 years ago at St Mark’s Church in Smith’s Parish.It was not a big wedding, as events these days tend to be, but it evidently had all the elements for durability, and the good life the couple’s five sons and four daughters and 26 grands have enjoyed over the decades.Mrs Bean is a caring, family-oriented, Christian woman. She’s a member of the Devonshire Seventh-Day Adventist Church, where her daughter Joanne and son-in-law Elder Derek Furbert are also prominent members.Mrs Bean is deeply conscious of her family roots. Her grandfather was a Joseph Mallory Darrell, a distinguished Member of the Colonial Parliament for Smith’s Parish, long before party politics were in vogue. She’s the eldest of 11 children of Christopher and Madeline Smith of Smith’s Parish. A former Berkeleyite, Mrs Bean is quick-witted and speaks volumes with a roll of her eyes. We asked her how she finds her husband. Demurely looking him in his eyes, she said: “He’s loving and kind. I do not know why he puts up with me.”Ronald is the eldest of the seven daughters and two sons of Gerald Bean and wife.