When staff photographer Brianna Soukup met Jeanie and Roger Cannell in July of 2022, they were living in their van at an I-95 plaza in Kennebunk. They had a lot of ups and downs in the years since, but a stable, affordable home remained elusive.

In March of 2024, when Brianna began photographing the couple again, Roger was in rehab recovering from surgery and Jeanie was living in a hotel. They had met Mark, a local pastor, who was helping them find an apartment they could sustain on their Social Security income.

In mid-April they finally got an apartment, but Roger was back and forth between hospitals and rehab and wasn’t able to move into it. Jeanie worked hard to get the place ready for him to come home. A month later, Roger was back in the hospital, unconscious for days and on a ventilator.

Jeanie was cautiously optimistic when he woke up and was able to come off the ventilator — maybe he could finally come home. But two days before his 74th birthday, Jeanie got a call. He had a bad night and wasn’t doing well.

Roger died peacefully on May 25, at 6:19 p.m. with Jeanie sitting next to him holding his hand and Mark playing hymns close to his ear.

– Photos by Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Read Jeanie and Roger Cannell’s story or look back at all of our 2024 Photos of the Year.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Jeanie Cannell feeds her husband Roger Cannell a muffin she brought for him at the rehabilitation facility he was living in.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Jeanie Cannell shows her husband Roger a listing for a small house for rent on Craigslist outside of the York County shelter in September 2023.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Roger was brought to the hospital after a fall in the rehab facility he was living in. Jeanie Cannell hugs her husband in the emergency room as they wait for a room to open up for him.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Jeanie Cannell peers through the window of the apartment that she and her husband applied for in Kennebunk. The apartment, which is in an affordable housing complex, would cost 30% of their income.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Jeanie Cannell carries a load of her and her husband’s clothes into their new apartment.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Jeanie Cannell sweeps the bathroom floor at her new apartment in Kennebunk.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Roger Cannell sits alone in his hospital room after calling his wife. He found out that afternoon that Jeanie was admitted to a different hospital after feeling dizzy and having consistent migraines. Roger had been unable to see their new apartment because he had been hospitalized since Jeanie moved in.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Jeanie Cannell hugs her husband Roger Cannell goodbye after visiting him at another rehabilitation facility he was moved to earlier in the week.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Jeanie Cannell cries as she rests her head on her husband. The hospital called Jeanie that morning and said Roger had made a turn for the worse overnight. Later that day, they made the decision to remove him from oxygen and make him as comfortable as possible.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Mark Jago holds his phone up to Roger Cannell’s ear so he can hear hymns while Jeanie Cannell holds her husband’s hand and buries her face into his bed. Roger died an hour and a half later at 6:19 p.m., two days before his 74th birthday.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Sue Dean, a Kennebunk Baptist Church parishioner, embraces Jeanie Cannell as she cries toward the end of the celebration of life for Roger Cannell on June 15.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

After picking up her husband’s ashes from the funeral home, Jeanie Cannell places the urn on a table in the apartment they had long dreamed about living in together.