An Ohio couple, who was married for 79-years died 20 hours apart while next to each other in Hospice care, according to their obituaries posted this week.
William “Hubert” Malicote passed away Nov. 30 at 9:15 p.m, while his wife Frances “June” Malicote died at 5:40 p.m. Dec. 1. They were both 100 years old.
“Hubert preceded June in death by only hours, marking the end of their 81-year love story,” Hubert’s obituary states.
Their son Sam told local media that his father died of a “broken heart,” saying, “I feel sad, but I shouldn’t. Who can expect to live a life like that? They lived a long, happy life together and they were devoted to God and the family. They went out together.”
Sam said that the family celebrated Thanksgiving together, that’s when June became seriously ill.
June was taken to hospice care, but when her husband visited his her Nov. 25 he “broke down,” Sam said.
Hubert was later admitted to hospice and shared a room with June, according to the local media report. They were unconscious for days but their hands were placed together. Days later, they both died.
The couple met in September 1941 and were married in 1943.
“When I saw her, I said she’ll be a good one,” Hubert Malicote said in an interview earlier this year with Local 12 in Cincinnati.
Hubert was a World War II veteran, enlisting in the Navy in 1942 and serving in the submarine service at Pearl Harbor. During WWII, June worked in a Hamilton factory where she built torpedo parts to support the war effort.
The Malicotes survived by their three children, Sam, Jo, and Theresa, seven grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.
