Couple Dies Hand-in-Hand After 67 years Of Marriage (PHOTO)

Couple Dies Hand-in-Hand After 67 years Of Marriage

A couple, who had been married for 67 years, died in their home in a very “Notebook”-like ending.

Like the film’s Noah and Allie, Floyd and Violet Hartwig stuck together until the very end.

As the two laid close to one another, daughter Donna Scharton and otherfamily members pushed the dying couples beds close together as they all knew the end was near.

“My mom had dementia for the last several years and around the holidays we noticed she was going down,” Scharton of Fresno, California tells ABC. “Then, I got a call from the doctor saying ‘your dad has kidney failure and he has two weeks to live.’ So, we decided to put them in hospice together.”

The Hartwigs owned a ranch in Easton, California, met while in grammar school and had developed a relationship upon Mr. Hartwig returning home from the Navy.

They married on Aug. 16, 1947 and had two other children, Carol and Kenneth, in addition to Scharton, reports The Inquisitr.

“My dad was in the Navy for six years,” she told ABC News. “He worked for the J.B. Hill Company delivering eggs and then for a feed company. Mom stayed home, helped take care of the ranch, and cooked all the meals. She made breakfast for dad at 4:30 in the morning every day.”

Scharton said that even when her fathers health was failing, he his number one prority was always his wife.

“He would tell the doctor, ‘I’m okay I just want her fixed’,” she added. “That was his concern; not how bad his pain was, but that he wanted my mom fixed.”

“We could tell my dad was in a lot more pain,” Scharton cried. “We said ‘it’s getting close,’ so we pushed the hospital beds together as far as we could. We put their hands together, and my dad died holding my mom’s hand. Mom was not coherent, but we told her that dad had passed away and that he was waiting for her. She died five hours later.”

Granddaughter Cynthia Letson remembers her grandparents as simple people who just loved having their family beside them.

“They never, ever asked for anything,” she said. “All they ever wanted was their family and it was amazing that they got that in the end.”

In honor of their legacy, Scharton is holding onto warm memories of her mother and father.

“Mom did a lot of sewing – made our clothes and stuff,” Scharton said. “She joined the PTA at school and she loved doing her crossword puzzles. They were very devoted and when dad came home we’d always have supper together.

“I remember them kissing each other goodbye every morning. I remember mom called him Blondie because he had such pretty blonde hair and blue eyes.”

“What I want people to get out of this story is my dad’s commitment to serving his country and loving his family. “What we felt was keeping them alive was the will to live, and that they didn’t want to let go of each other.”

This isn’t the first time we have seen a story of long-lasting love end in such a sweet way.

In 2011, a devoted Iowa couple married for 72 years died holding hands, exactly one hour apart.

The passing reflected the nature of their marriage, where, “As a rule, everything was done together,” said the couple’s daughter Donna Sheets, 71.

Source:

Couple dies hand-in-hand
http://www.vh1.com/celebrity/2015-02-26/couple-dies-hand-in-hand-like-the-notebook/

Couple Dies Hand In Hand: 67 Years Of Marriage Ends With Couple Still Very Much In Love
http://www.inquisitr.com/1876615/couple-dies-hand-in-hand-67-years-of-marriage-ends-couple-still-very-much-in-love/