A sweet husband and wife who had been married for 64 years have gone viral after their family shared a photo of the pair holding hands during their final hours.
Ohio-based Nancy and Bill Schafrath, aged 85 and 88, have passed away just hours apart while holding their hands on their deathbed.
The couple left the world on Christmas Eve while staying at Wooster’s Brookdale Senior Living. Bill passed away first at around 7 am and was followed by Nancy who died just hours later at 11 am.
“In the last couple weeks, when he couldn’t get out of bed anymore, we’d push their beds together in the middle of the room. So they literally held hands for the last week of their life,” the couple’s niece, Pat Cornelius, said in an interview with the Daily Record.
“It’s almost like they decided that if one went, the other would go, too. Somehow they knew,” nephew John Moritz added.
While the couple didn’t have any kids of their own, Bill had 11 siblings and dozens of nephews and nieces who branded the couple’s passing as sweet and loving.
Throughout their fulfilling life, Nancy had been working at a bank where she was promoted several times and eventually reached the position of the manager and vice president.
As for Bill, he was a veteran who fought in the Korean War for two years. He was also an expert bricklayer who made his living mostly by working for Bogner Construction.
The couple was honored by their large family and friends during a funeral that took place at St. Mary Catholic Church where the couple also got married.
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Replaced!