New Jersey couple die hours apart, unaware of other's death

A New Jersey couple that was married for 67 years died just a day apart even though each didn't know of the other's death, Huffington Post reports.

Olympia DeNittis, 95, died last Sunday in Edison, NJ, after a bout with pneumonia, the Asbury Park Press reports. Michael DeNittis, 94, died the next day just a few hours away in New Brunswick, NJ.

Michael's family decided not to tell him about her death, hoping he might continue his 4-year battle with stage-IV colon cancer, but he said he had dreamed of his own death the night before, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports.

"It was bizarre," says granddaughter AnnMarie McDonald. "I think instinctually he knew she had died." Michael and Olympia were childhood sweethearts who grew up just a block away from each other in Port Reading, NJ, and got married after World War II.

Olympia "was dying of a broken heart," says McDonald, and wanted to die first "so he wouldn’t have to enter heaven without her there to welcome him." McDonald describes the family as devastated: "They were both remarkable people. We relied on their guidance and insight until the end. And now they’re together." (Click to read about another couple who died hours apart after 63 years together.)