Presley and Ethel Bradshaw, a Kentucky couple, had been married for 73 years when they died Monday, hours apart.
Ethel, 99, entered a Louisville nursing home four years ago when her health began to decline. Presley, 101, visited his wife there several times a week.
"[He would] hold her hand, kiss all over her, tell her how much he loved her and missed her," Shannon Bass, Director of Admissions at Meadowview Health and Rehab Center, told Wave3.com. Two years later, he moved into the center to be with his wife.
"They were a true epitome of the word love," said Meadowview nurse Chasity Stoudemire.
Presely died first, with Ethel following him four hours later. Though Ethel suffered from dementia, Bass believes she was aware that her husband had died.
The couple were married on Oct. 21, 1938 in Somerset, Kentucky.
It seems that long-married couples are often intrinsically aware of the death of one spouse, perhaps because of their strong bond. Below, five stories of other loving, long-married couples who lived their lives together, til death (hours apart) did them part.
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Gordan And Norma Yeager
In Oct. 2011, Gordon and Norma Yeager <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/19/long-married-couple_n_1020085.html" target="_hplink">died holding hands</a> after 72 years of marriage. The Iowa couple was hospitalized after a car accident and died within one hour of each other.
Nancy And Richard Trimmer
Pennsylvania couple Nancy and Richard Trimmer <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/12/married-couple-dies-hours-apart_n_1204111.html" target="_hplink">died within hours</a> of each other after 61 years of marriage in January 2012. Richard died shortly after learning of his wife's death.
Harlan and Gertrude Balgeman
Harlan and Gertrude Balgeman were <a href="http://www.austindailyherald.com/2011/11/09/long-married-couple-dies-6-hours-apart/" target="_hplink">married 67 years</a> before they died within six hours of each other in November 2011. The Texas couple had farmed together for their entire marriage.
Elizabeth And Roy E. Gulbranson
Elizabeth and Roy Gulbranson <a href="http://www.cassopolisvigilant.com/2012/01/05/long-married-couple-dies-same-day/" target="_hplink">died within 10 hours</a> of each other in January 2012. The Indiana couple had been married for 61 years.
Doreen and Bert Swan
Doreen and Bert Swan were 91 and 93 respectively when they <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1346768/After-70-years-wedded-bliss-couple-die-hours-other.html" target="_hplink">died within 11 hours</a> of each in January 2011. The British couple had been married for 70 years.
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First Posted: 01/27/2012 3:34 pm Updated: 01/27/2012 5:34 pm