Couple Remains Inseparable in Death, as in Life

Paul and Ruby Crockett were inseparable to the end.

A love story that began with letters across the ocean during World War II concluded recently in a nursing home, where they died within four hours of each other.

“They gave us everything for all the years they were married,” said Dave Crockett, one of the couple’s two sons. “They saved the best gift for last. They showed us what dedication, what love, what God is all about.”

Linda James, director of nursing at Tendercare nursing center, said she had never seen a couple die so closely together in her 30-year career.

“I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never witnessed it,” she told the Traverse City Record-Eagle. More common, she said, are stories of people who hold on until a cherished event, such as a holiday or a visit from a loved one.

Paul Crockett was 82 and Ruby Crockett 78 when they died in May. He joined his wife at the nursing home about a month before his death. She was incapacitated by a stroke; he had cancer.

Paul Crockett died first, his wife shortly thereafter. The surviving family members believe she had resigned herself to her husband’s impending death and decided to join him.