Couple married 67 years dies holding hands in their California home, just as they wished
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this March 2014 photo provided by Cynthia Letson, Floyd and Violet Hartwig pose together in a yard in Easton, Calif. The Hartwig's marriage spanned 67 years, but their love for one another appears timeless. Sensing that the couple was close to death, their children pushed their two hospice beds together and gently placed their father's hand in the mother's palm. Floyd, 90, died first. Violet, 89, followed five hours later. They had a good life and died Feb. 11, 2015, at home, just as they had wished, the family said. (AP Photo/Cynthia Letson) (The Associated Press)
Floyd and Violet Hartwig died holding hands at the end of a marriage lasting 67 years.
Their daughter, Donna Scharton, said Thursday that once the family sensed the couple was close to death, they pushed their two hospice beds together, gently joining their hands. Floyd went first, followed by Violet five hours later. They died Feb. 11 at home in Central California, as they had wished.
Scharton says her parents' romance sparked at a dance hall when Floyd, a decorated Navy sailor, was home on shore leave. They went on to have three children, four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Scharton says that people often commented on her parents' connection.
Cynthia Letson says that once her grandfather passed, the family told her grandmother that she could go too.