(WSVN) - A couple married for nearly 70 years died just 40 minutes apart Saturday in Illinois.
Fox News reports that 91-year-old Isaac Vatkin was holding his wife Teresa’s hand when she passed away from Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 89.
When both fell gravely ill, hospital staff had arranged for their beds to be pushed together. Just 40 minutes after Teresa died, Isaac passed away from an undisclosed ailment.
“Their love for each other was so strong, they simply could not live without each other,” Clara Gesklin, one of their three children, told The Daily Herald.
Their children told reporters that, when Teresa was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few years prior, he learned how to use a computer just so he could research possible treatments.
Once the family decided to move Teresa to a specialized care facility, they said Isaac visited her every day.
“You didn’t want to see them go,” William Vatkin, one of their grandchildren, told the news outlet. “But you couldn’t ask for anything more.”
“They were always in love, literally to the end,” Rabbi Barry Schecter said at their joint memorial service. “To the last second.”
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