Bill Schafrath, 88, died around 7 a.m.; his 85-year-old wife followed just after 11 a.m.
Family members told The Daily Record Bill Schafrath couldn't get out of bed for the last week, so they pushed the couple's beds together in their room at Brookdale Senior Living in Wooster, Ohio, so they could be near each other.
"So they literally held hands for the last week of their life," Pat Cornelius, the couple's niece, told the newspaper.
The couple had a single memorial service and were buried together.
They also had a joint death notice published in the Record.
They were inseparable in life and now in death. Cornelius was their caregiver and when either her aunt or uncle went somewhere, they both had to go.
The couple left behind nieces and nephews, according to Nancy Schafrath's obituary published by the funeral home in charge of their arrangements.
About the Author