A couple married for 71 years died just hours apart, showing the world that love goes beyond the grave.
Herbert Delaigle, 94, and his wife Frances Delaigle, 88, was that kind of couple whose bond was so inseparable, they died just 12 hours apart on Friday.
The Delaigles began their love story in a little cafe in Waynesboro, Georgia, where they first met at ages 16 and 22.
“Frances worked at a little cafe we had in Waynesboro named White Way Cafe,” Herbert Delaigle told WRDW/WAGT in 2018. “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.”
The couple had their first date at the movies. One year later, Herbert decided to pop the question.
“I asked her will she have me as her husband and she said, of course,” Herbert said at the time.
But the wedding almost did not take place because the couple was an hour late to their wedding ceremony. Eventually, they both convinced their preacher to hold the wedding service even if it was rushed.
Frances, whose first name is Marilyn, also spent six years in Germany with Herbert while he served in the Army as a World War II veteran. Herbert also went on to serve in the Korean and Vietnam wars before retiring from service, according to an obituary for the couple.
“It’s amazing how they were together for 71 years and now they are together in heaven,” the Delaigle family said in a statement Friday. “What an amazing love story that is.”
The couple left behind six children and 16 grandchildren. They also left behind 25 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
The funeral for the couple was held Monday.