Percy Arrowsmith, 105; He and His Wife of 80 Years Held Record for Longest Marriage

Percy Arrowsmith, who with his wife set the record two weeks ago for having the world’s longest marriage, died Wednesday, his wife of 80 years by his side. He was 105.

Arrowsmith died at his home in Hereford, England, near the Welsh border, his bishop said.

On June 1, Arrowsmith and his 100-year-old wife, Florence, celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary and a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Queen Elizabeth II sent her congratulations to the couple, who marked the occasion at home with coffee and snacks with family and friends.

“Percy and Flo were very happy when I saw them on their anniversary,” said the Rev. Anthony Priddis, bishop of Hereford. “They were still very much in love with each other.”

This month, Guinness World Records recognized the pair as holding records for the longest marriage for a living couple and the oldest aggregate age of a married couple.

According to a story in the Daily Telegraph of London, the two met in 1922, when she was a Sunday school teacher and he was a clerk in a solicitor’s office.

The Arrowsmiths -- who had three children, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren -- said the key to their long marriage was not to go to sleep on an argument.