Couple together for nearly 65 years die on the same day

The couple who had been together for nearly 65 years have died on the same day at a St. Louis area nursing home.

They met as Harriett accompanied her father on a trip with the drum and bugle corp he played in. Jack was behind the wheel of a charter bus that drove the group to some of its concerts. The couple went on their first date on Halloween of 1955. “They went to a little diner and never separated from that day on,” Wagener said. They married about six months later.

About a year ago, Harriet tripped while walking their dog, breaking her pelvis and hip, Sue Wagener, a niece raised by the Morrisons said. Harriet had dementia, and moved into ‘The Woodlands of Arnold’ nursing home and rehabilitation center. Meanwhile, Jack was having trouble living at home. Wagener said she talked him into moving into a villa at the ‘Woodlands’ in May. In September, he also fell, breaking his neck. He then moved into the nursing home, four doors down the hall from his wife.

Even then, they would nap together, one in a wheelchair, the other in bed — their hands intertwined. “Some days she knew him; other days she didn’t,” said Wagener. About 11 p.m. on Jan. 10, she got a call from a nurse saying Harriet appeared close to death. The nurse asked if staff could move furniture out of Jack’s room so the couple could be together. The Morrison’s beds were placed next to each other in their final hours, allowing them to hold hands. 86 year-old Jack died first. Harriett, who was 83, died later (on Jan. 11 2020).

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/nation-world/national/article239440133.html