Couple die an hour apart while holding hands after being married for 72 years

An Iowa couple who were married for 72 years died one hour apart last week in the hospital as they held hands. Family said the story of Gordon, 94, and Norma Yeager, 90, is a real-life love story. On the day she graduated from high school, Norma Stock promised to spend forever with Gordon Yeager. The couple got married on May 26, 1939 in State Center. "They're very old-fashioned. They believed in marriage til death do you part," said son Dennis Yeager. Dennis said the couple left home last Wednesday to go into town, but they didn't make it.



At the intersection of Highway 30 and Jessup Avenue just west of Marshalltown, state troopers said Gordon pulled in front of an oncoming car. The Iowa State Patrol crash report said the other driver attempted to avoid the crash but was unable to stop in time. "I rushed from Des Moines where I was working and saw them in the hospital," he said. In the intensive care unit of Marshalltown's hospital, nurses knew not to separate Gordon and Norma. "They brought them in the same room in intensive care and put them together - and they were holding hands in ICU. They were not really responsive," said Dennis Yeager.

Gordon died at 3:38 p.m. holding hands with his wife as the family they built surrounded them. "It was really strange, they were holding hands, and dad stopped breathing but I couldn't figure out what was going on because the heart monitor was still going," said Dennis Yeager. "But we were like, he isn't breathing. How does he still have a heart beat? The nurse checked and said that's because they were holding hands and it's going through them. Her heart was beating through him and picking it up."



"They were still getting her heartbeat through him," said Donna Sheets. At 4:38 p.m., exactly one hour after Gordon died, Norma passed too. "They just loved being together," said Dennis Yeager. At their funeral on Monday, Norma and Gordon held hands in their casket. Family said they will be cremated and their ashes mixed together.

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