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Together 'Til the End: Couple Married 72 Years Dies One Hour Apart

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Norma and Gordon Yeager were serious when they vowed, "Til death do we part," back in 1939, the day that Norma graduated from high school.

gordon and norma yeagergordon and norma yeager
Photos via KCCI

Last week, the couple was involved in a fatal car accident and rushed to the intensive care unit, but their conditions did not improve. Gordon and Norma were placed holding hands in the same room in the ICU, but they were not responsive. 

At 3:38 P.M., Gordon passed away while still holding Norma's hand. After he stopped breathing, the family was baffled to still see activity on the heart monitor. The nurse explained that essentially, because they were holding hands, her heart was beating through him.

The couple loved each other so deeply that they never wanted to be apart. "Neither one of them would've wanted to be without each other. I couldn't figure out how it was going to work," said Donna Sheets, their oldest daughter. "We were very blessed, honestly, that they went this way."
 
Norma passed away exactly one hour later, at 4:38 P.M.

For their funeral, the couple was placed in a casket together holding hands. They will be cremated, and their ashes will be mixed together as yet another symbol of their undying love. 

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—Kristen O'Gorman Klein