A Missouri couple, married 77 years, took their vows to the grave.
Raymond Breuer, 97, and Velva Breuer, 96, were buried together in the same casket holding hands Friday near the gravesites of their parents and other family members in Oak Grove Cemetery near the town of St. James, the Associated Press reported.
Velva Breuer held Raymond Breuer’s hand at his side when he passed away, but little did Raymond know that his wife would soon follow him.
“Dad told one of the nurses before he passed, that if they went close together, that they should just be buried together, in the same casket,” the couple’s son, Bobby Breuer told the Columbia Tribune. “Jokingly, I think. But other people heard it and we asked the funeral director. Mother was a very small woman, and Dad wasn’t that big.”
The Breuers had six children — four sons and two daughters — three of whom are still alive. They also have 18 grandchildren, and so many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren that the family says they have lost count.
The two met growing up in Phelps County, Missouri, and married in 1940.
There have been other stories of married couples who have died while holding hands.
An Illinois couple, married for 69 years, died less than an hour apart while holding hands in their hospital beds in April.
In 2016, a Texas couple, married for 74 years, died just 10 hours apart.