Husband and wife pass away on the same day after 71 years of marriage
Who says true romance is dead? Except, in this case, it ironically is.
Herbert DeLaigle, 94, and Marilyn Frances DeLaigle, 88, who were happily wed for 71 years, loved each other so much they couldn’t stand to be apart.
So when Herbert left this world at 2:20 am, Frances reunited with him exactly 12 hours later, at 2:20 in the afternoon.
However, this story isn’t about a celebration of death, but a celebration of life, and how much Herbert and Frances, who are from a bygone era, bring everlasting love into our hearts.
Their story begins when the couple met at the White Way Cafe in Waynesboro, Georgia, where Frances worked. They were very young at the time – Herbert was 22 and Frances was 16.
In his last interview with WRDW, Herbet recalled the moment he finally got the nerve to finally ask her out.
“I kept seeing her going in and out, in and out and I had my eyes set on her. And then I finally got up the nerve to ask her if she would go out with me sometime.”
On their first date, they went to the movies. In 1949, just like now, the cinema would have been the perfect place to sneak a kiss in the dark.
A year later, Herbert popped the question!
But their wedding almost didn’t happen because Herbert had a problem with being tardy to just about everything.
So it was no surprise that Herbert was an hour late to his own wedding, and it took some convincing to get the preacher to marry them.
The ceremony had to be rushed, but at $5 it was a bargain compared to today’s over-the-top wedding extravaganzas.
Of course, we all want to know the secret sauce to wedded bliss. And it’s quite simple, really!
“Show your love,” Herbert said. “And be there for each other,” Frances quipped.
The couple leaves behind a long legacy of six children, 16 grandkids, 25 great-grandbabies, and three great-great-grandkiddos.
We often romanticize true love by measuring the length of time a couple is married.
Sometimes though, death can have an equally profound impact on how we view our deeper, soul-level connections to one another.
You might remember that when actress Carrie Fisher crossed over to the great unknown, her equally famous mother, Debbie Reynolds, passed away the following day. Some say it was because Debbie was heartbroken.
Others may say that their connection was so inexplicably linked, that not even time and space could break the bond between mother and daughter.
Everyone’s personal beliefs vary, but it’s hard to ignore how they all left this world, one right after the other.
It just goes to show that love – whether it’s romantic, platonic, familial, or something else – is a universal experience, and yet we all experience it in different ways.
If we’re lucky enough to connect to the right people in this life, perhaps we can even pick up where we left off and continue to strengthe on the other side.
Watch the video below to find out more about Herbert and Frances’ story.
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