JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — For the past five years, Beverly Cain has handled a bevy of issues in the Secretary of Senate office, from keeping up with committee minutes to checking bills to handling to supervising courtesy resolutions.
But on Friday morning, Cain was called to the Senate floor regarding a resolution that had slipped by her — one honoring her more than 30 years of service in the Missouri State Capitol on the day of her retirement.
Cain was presented the resolution on Sept. 13, the day of her retirement, by Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, who recognized her dedication to Missouri and those in the Capitol building.
“Bev’s dedication and her experience will be sorely missed in the Senate,” Bersnkoetter told The Missouri Times. “She was a great longtime employee, and she will be dearly missed.”
Cain began working in state government straight out of high school. And after she had two young children, a friend contacted her about an opportunity that became what she calls her “dream job”: the ability to work part of the year while her kids were in school but have summers free to be with them. And thus began her storied career in the state Capitol.
Cain first went to work for then-state Rep. John Sharp. A year later, she joined Franc Flotron’s office, spending 18 years with him as he moved from the state House to the Senate.
Flotron said he called Cain “the infallible one” because her calm nature, patience, and professionalism.
“I never saw that woman ruffled. She was always professional,” Flotron told The Missouri Times. “I really admire her and liked working with her a lot.”
When Flotron left the Capitol, Cain worked for former state Rep. Roseann Bentley and former state Sen. Scott Rupp. Finally, she settled in the Secretary of Senate office where she’s “been doing a little bit of everything.”
“Beverly Cain was the most sought after assistant in the Capitol when I was first elected,” Rupp, who is now on the Public Service Commission, told The Missouri Times. “I was purely lucky to grab someone of her caliber. Numerous people had said, ‘If you could hire one person, hire her.’”
Rupp particularly praised Cain’s institutional knowledge, integrity, and counsel, calling her a “wonderful friend.”
“She’s an amazing person, and the Senate will be worse off without her,” he said.
When Cain began serving in the Capitol building, politics weren’t necessarily her fortay. But over the years, she got to witness how legislation moved through the channel and experienced the increase in responsibility for Republicans when it came to bill handling and committees after they took over the majority.
“I didn’t know anything about politics really. I was very young when I came here,” Cain said. “But once you start working and get involved in politics, that’s your whole life [aside from] your family. I learned a lot.”
In recognizing Cain’s service Friday, it was clear lawmakers weren’t ready for her to vamoose. Sen. Ed Emery jokingly asked if the resolution could be rescinded to block her departure. Bernskoetter suggested giving Cain a sabbatical but bringing her back when the legislative session starts up again next year.
But in January, Cain and her husband do not plan to be in Missouri. Working in construction, Floyd Cain’s off-season was at the start of the year, when his wife would get busy with work; summers were his busy season, when Beverly Cain was able to leave the Capitol.
So it’s time for the pair to travel. First up, they plan to spend some time visiting friends in South Padre Island in Texas. It’s a great place for retirees and could become a frequent winter getaway for the couple, she said.
Travel has long been part of the Cains’ history. When she was 18 years old, just out of high school, she went to Germany where Floyd Cain was stationed. While there, the pair became engaged. Now, they are the parents of three adult children.
Aside from Texas, Cain hopes to soon travel to Hawaii. She’s never been, and it’s time for a new adventure.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
