Navy Vet, Wife of 69 Years Die Hours Apart
The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) | Jan 09, 2015 | by Vanessa McCray
FINDLAY -- A couple whose lives intertwined over 69 years of marriage died eight hours apart while in hospice care in Findlay.
Patricia and Eugene Warrington died Dec. 27, less than two months before they would have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
The two married in secret on Feb. 19, 1945, after Mr. Warrington returned from training with the U.S. Navy. He had enlisted while in high school, returned from training, and married his wife, then 16, while he was on leave for several weeks, their son Phillip Warrington of Fostoria said.
After serving in the Pacific during the end of World War II, Mr. Warrington returned home and graduated from Fostoria High School in 1947. Mrs. Warrington graduated the year before.
Mr. Warrington later told his son that after he returned from the service, he never wanted to be away from his wife again. They pretty much saw each other every day for the rest of their lives, their son said.
"Dad knew she was the one," he said. "They hooked up, and they never unhooked."
Before Christmas, both caught a respiratory illness and on Dec. 21, Mrs. Warrington went into Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay after suffering complications. On Dec. 23, Mr. Warrington also went to the hospital.
Their son learned his mother was in critical condition, and he broke the sad news to his father.
On Dec. 23, hospital staff took Mr. Warrington to his wife's room, and the couple spent about an hour together.
"He held her hand," his son said.
His father remarked that "life's not going to be fun anymore" without his wife.
Soon, they were both admitted into Bridge Hospice Care Center in Findlay, staying in rooms across the hall from each other.
Mr. Warrington, 88, died at 2:40 a.m. Dec. 27. Mrs. Warrington, 86, died at 10:50 a.m.
Their granddaughter Molly Warrington-Tucker of Toledo said her grandmother was more critically ill, but she believes her grandfather "made a conscious choice" to leave "with the love of his life."
"I got to witness their last kiss. I didn't know it at the time, but I have that memory," she said.
The family will hold a memorial service for the couple on March 21.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/01/09/navy-vet-wife-of-69-years-die-hours-apart.html?comp=7000023468025&rank=3
