An Arizona grandmother who made the news in 2016 for accidentally texting a stranger about Thanksgiving and inviting him anyway lost her husband due to the coronavirus.
Lonnie Dench died Sunday, just days after both Wanda Dench and Lonnie came down with the virus.
Wanda was recovering at home, but Lonnie took a turn for the worse and had to be hospitalized for pneumonia and complications from the virus on Friday, KPNX reported.
Jamal Hinton, the Phoenix man whom Wanda Dench texted and befriended in 2016 when he was 17 years old, has remained friends with the family since that Thanksgiving he attended and provided updates on Lonnie’s passing.
“As some of you may have already found out tonight Lonnie did not make it… he passed away Sunday morning, but Wanda told me all the love and support he was receiving put a huge smile on his face so I thank every single one of you guys for that!” Hinton wrote.
Hinton also confirmed in a separate tweet that Wanda is “not sick” and had recovered from the coronavirus.
Since Wanda first mistakenly texted Hinton in 2016, the family has hosted him every year since then at their Tempe, Arizona, home for Thanksgiving.
Because “that’s what grandmas do … feed everyone,” Wanda Dench said.