Photo courtesy of the McDonald family via NJ.com
Even death couldn't keep Olympia and Michael DeNittis apart. After 67 years of marriage, they passed away within 32 hours of each other; what's even more remarkable is that Michael didn't know his wife had died.
Olympia lost her battle with pneumonia on February 2nd at JFK Medical Center’s Haven Hospice in Edison, NJ, and her family made the difficult decision not to tell Michael, who was suffering from cancer in another hospital just seven miles away. "I saw him in the hospital (and) there was a glimmer of hope we might be able to bring him home," his granddaughter, AnnMarie McDonald, explains to NJ.com.
However, despite their attempts to shield him from the sad news, it appeared that Michael had a gut feeling something was wrong — he told his relatives he had a dream that he had died the night before and he also asked about his wife's prescription medication.
"I knew that she knew that he loved his life and wanted to continue living it," AnnMarie tells CBS News. “So I think she wanted to predecease him, to some extent, to kind of welcome him into heaven."
Photo courtesy of the McDonald family via The Daily Mail
Michael and Olympia's love affair goes back all the way to their childhood; they grew up a block apart in Port Reading. He worked as a head custodian at a high school and she was a factory seamstress. They got married after World War II and had two daughters. Michael, referred to as "Mullie" by his friends, spent the past four years fighting stage IV colon cancer. Their funeral service was held in the same church where they got married.
Photo courtesy of the McDonald family via The Daily Mail
Despite their loss, DeNittis' loved ones found consolation in the fact that this beloved couple was together until the very end. "Each of them valued family above all. Life will never be the same without them, but they were remarkable people whose story should be kept alive," AnnMarie tells The Daily Mail.
Plus, read the story of another long-married couple who died one hour apart.
—Stefania Sainato
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