Couple married 67 years dies holding hands

FRESNO, Calif. – Floyd and Violet Hartwig died holding hands at the end of a marriage lasting 67 years.

Their daughter, Donna Scharton, said Thursday that once the family sensed the couple was close to death, they pushed their two hospice beds together, gently joining their hands. Floyd went first, followed by Violet five hours later. They died Feb. 11 at home in Central California, as they had wished.

Scharton says her parents' romance sparked at a dance hall when Floyd, a decorated Navy sailor, was home on shore leave. They went on to have three children, four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Scharton says that people often commented on her parents' connection.

Cynthia Letson says that once her grandfather passed, the family told her grandmother that she could go too.