Couple Together for 73 Years Dies Hours Apart After COVID-19

A couple who had been together for 73 years died this week due after both being diagnosed with COVID-19.

“Our family lost the glue that holds us together,” Natalie Lameka, the granddaughter of the couple—Mary and Wilford Kepler—told WTMJ TV. She added that the deaths were “definitely hard” but “bittersweet.”

Wilford died on Saturday, followed six hours later by Mary. The couple had been given side-by-side beds at the Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin after discovering they had contracted COVID-19, though the report notes that the family “doesn’t know” how the couple were exposed to the novel coronavirus.

Lameka said the two were able to tell each other “I love you” one last time before their deaths. She added that they had been holding hands, with the fact that they were able to be together during their final moments serving as a great comfort to the family.

“They had been holding hands and that was just heartbreaking to hear but also heartwarming to hear,” she said. “And we were just so thankful they were together and were aware they were together.”

A separate report from USA Today notes that the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that—while both Wilford and Mary had tested positive for the virus—only Mary died due to it. According to the report, Wilford’s cause of death was determined as “a traumatic head injury” due to a recent fall. The couple had been transported to the hospital together on April 12 following that fall.