Lovebirds Married 77 Years Die Hours Apart, Valentine's Day Week

MATTITUCK, NY — In perhaps the most beautiful love story of all time, a Mattituck couple married just shy of 77 years died just hours apart during Valentine's Day week.

Sharing the uplifting story of a love that truly lasted forever, Kim Haeg, of Southold, said she was in the hospital last week, completely unaware that both her beloved grandparents were in the same hospital, Peconic Bay Medical Center - Northwell Health in Riverhead, just a few rooms away.

Her aunt MaryJo, Haeg said, arranged for the long-time lovebirds Joseph, 97, and Christine, 98, to be together in the same room, "side by side so they could hold hands and tell each other that they loved each other for the last time before they both passed peacefully."

Christine died on Monday and her husband Joseph passed away on Feb. 14, on Valentine's Day, with the forever-in-love couple together for eternity — they died 54 hours apart.

Her grandparents' story, Kim, 33, said, reminded her of the film "The Notebook," except her grandmother did not have dementia.

And yet, the heartache of losing her grandparents cuts deep for Kim, left a quadriplegic dependent upon a ventilator after a devastating 2004 car crash in Peconic when she was just 18 years old.

Kim spoke of the deep love she shared with both her grandparents. "We had a special bond and they gave me many memories growing up that I will never forget. I am so happy they didn't suffer and that they got to go the way they did. That is what they wanted — and that, right there, is true love! Yes, I will miss them dearly but I'm happy they are together for eternity."

MaryJo said the fact that her parents died 54 hours apart, "is uncanny because if you transpose the number, it's 4/5 — the day of their anniversary."

Fittingly, their family will bury them on April 5, on their anniversary, a beautiful ending to their forever love story, MaryJo said. "It was their final gift to me. I prayed for years for them to die together, so one wouldn't have to live without the other," she said.

MaryJo said she spent his hours talking to her father, sharing closeness and memories. "They had a long beautiful life," she said.

Her mother, MaryJo said, should have been in the hospital many times, but she didn't want to leave her husband.

When it came time to head to the hospital, the couple went in two ambulances and, once they arrived, MaryJo asked please, that her parents share the same room.

"The nurses said that my parents asked to push their beds together. When I got there and saw those beds together, I cried happy tears," she said. "They kept saying, back and forth to each other, 'I love you. I love you.' It was so beautiful. I feel so blessed."

MaryJo, who retired eight years ago, spent the last eight years caring for her parents. "I was blessed to have that time with them. I have absolutely no regrets," she said. If she could say one last thing to her parents, MaryJo said it would be, "Thank you for that beautiful, perfect farewell gift."

Kim said she had been very close with her grandparents, her father Dennis' parents — they also had a daughter MaryJo and son Richard — since she was just a baby. "I will miss them tremendously but I am blessed the went the way they wanted to, with no pain or suffering," she said.

His parents' love story was legendary, Dennis said. "They never fought, which is rare even for their time."

From the beginning, Kim spent as much time as she could with her grandparents. "Toward the end, I would try and visit them as often as I could at The Bristal Assisted Living in Holtsville. I would spend my time there playing bingo with my Grammy and having long talks with my Paw Paw. These memories will remain forever in my mind and heart along with all the memories they helped me create throughout the years."

A post by Peconic Bay Medical Center echoed the beauty of the forever sweethearts' grand romance.

"A truly touching love story for Valentine's Day," the post said. " A couple came into the ER — the wife was 98 and the husband was 97. They were together for 81 years — married for 77 years! As the story goes, they were truly in love with each other. As they got older, they would sit on the couch together and when they could no longer sit on the couch, they got reclining chairs that were right next to each other so they could always hold hands."

The couple both were admitted into the hospital during the past week, the post said. "Both were very ill and near the end," the post said, adding that the couple's daughter MaryJo made one request, that her parents remain together, in the same room.

"Our great emergency room nurse, Lindsey, after listening to the daughter's request, promised never to separate them, and communicated that wish throughout our hospital following this lovely couple," the post said. "Our amazing nurses and staff honored the request to keep them in the same rooms." One nurse, the post added, "even pushed their beds together when they settled into the room at their request," so they could spend their final days holding hands.

"The day before the wife died, the daughter told her that her husband was not doing well and was going to die. The wife responded, 'No fair, I’m older and ladies' first!' The wife passed away first, and then the husband followed early yesterday morning on Valentine's Day. It really was such a beautiful ending for them," the post said.

Their love spanned a lifetime, Kim said. "On April 5 they would have been celebrating their 77th wedding anniversary," she said. "Neither one of them had ever dated another person. They were truly each other's first, last — and everything."

Patch photos by Kim Haeg. Photo of her parents' hands by MaryJo Haeg.