--- description: A Texas couple married for 74 years died last week on the same day title: This Couple Was Married for 74 Years. They Just Died on the Same Day image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Couple Was Married for 74 Years. They Just Died on the Same Day by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 2, 2016 8:28 PM CUT by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 2, 2016 8:28 PM CUT A Texas couple married for 74 years died last week on the same day. Leonard Cherry, 95, and his wife Hazel Cherry, 93, died just hours apart from each other on Oct. 27. Leonard Cherry, who had been in hospice care a few days prior to his death, passed away at 1 p.m., while his wife, who was in good health, died at 11 p.m. Family members mourned the loss, but said they were grateful neither of the high school sweethearts, who married in 1942, would have to live alone. “I feel blessed that daddy’s suffering is over, and I feel blessed that mom is with him and that she didn’t have to be alone,” David Cherry, the couple’s son, told [CNN affiliate KWTX](http://www.kwtx.com/content/news/After-74-years-together-local-man-wife-die-just-hours-apart-399570061.html "undefined"). It was not immediately clear what caused Hazel Cherry’s death. “Mother had been driving around town and still going to the grocery store as recently as two weeks ago, but dad’s health had been failing for some years,” David Cherry said. The couple’s grandson said both had a strong bond. “The two were always smiling and always deeply in love,” Craig Cherry, their only grandson, said. \[[_CNN_](http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/02/health/couple-dies-same-day-trnd/index.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4555512/couple-die-same-day-texas/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4555512/couple-die-same-day-texas/"},"headline":"This Couple Was Married for 74 Years. They Just Died on the Same Day","datePublished":"2016-11-02T20:28:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:35:05.323Z","description":"\"The two were always smiling and always deeply in love\"","url":"https://time.com/4555512/couple-die-same-day-texas/","keywords":["Texas"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4555512/couple-die-same-day-texas/","name":"This Couple Was Married for 74 Years. They Just Died on the Same Day"}}]}] ```