After 58 years of marriage, high school sweethearts die holding hands

HAMBURG, GERMANY - MAY 03: An elderly couple hold hands at a trade fair at the “Seniorentag 2012” senior citizens convention on May 3, 2012 in Hamburg, Germany. The three-day long convention caters specifically to the needs of elderly people, who in Germany, as in the rest of Europe, are becoming an increasingly higher portion of the overall population. Europe as a whole, through its low birth rates and improving health care, is undergoing a demographic shift that has far-reaching consequences for labor markets, public policy planning and government budgets. (Photo by Joern Pollex/Getty Images) (2012 Getty Images)

SAN ANTONIO – This is the story of two high school sweethearts who left the world the same way they lived in it: together.

It is a love story that spans nearly six decades.

"I just can't believe something like this would ever happen, you hear this on the movies ... like 'The Notebook'," said Corina Martinez, one of their three daughters.

George and Ora Lee Rodriguez celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary on June 1st. The two met in San Antonio, and it was a love that never faded.

"He was working as a butcher, at Tony's meat market on Culebra," Martinez said. "He met her there." George became a Marine and married her sweetheart after serving.

Eventually both developed dementia and a few months ago George suffered a stroke.

"They were both here, we had them here at the house, in their hospital beds, right beside each other, they were holding hands," said Martinez.

On Tuesday, George passed away in his sleep. Just three hours later Ora Lee passed as well, surrounded by their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

"My mother would always say that she was going to take my father or vice versa, and it did happen, we didn't think it would, but it did," said Georgia Perez, another daughter.

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