A Michigan family is dealing with two tragedies after a couple married for 47 years died on the same day at virtually the same time after they were both diagnosed with and hospitalized for coronavirus.
Leslie “LD” and Patricia McWaters “did almost everything together” in their nearly five-decade-long marriage, so their family said it was only fitting that both died on Nov. 24 at 4:23 p.m after being hospitalized with the coronavirus, according to their joint obituary.
“The hospital staff that cared for them, as they lost their battle to COVID, said it was too close to call,” their obituary reads. “They recorded their deaths at the exact same time… Those of us that know them, know that mom went first and said, ‘LD, it’s time to go!'”
Added their daughter Joanna Sisk to NBC affiliate WDIV: “It’s beautiful, but it’s so tragic. Kind of like Romeo and Juliet. One wouldn’t have wanted to be without the other.”
LD, 75, and Patricia, 78, were both born in Jackson, Michigan, according to their obituary. They married on April 16, 1973 and went on to welcome two daughters, Susan Brewer and Joanna Sisk.
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The pair went on to have “quite a love story,” as they frequently hosted pool parties and game nights, drove their ’59 Corvette to car shows, went dancing at the bar they first met, took annual family canoeing trips, and watched their three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren compete in sporting events.
Patricia was described by her family as a “no-nonsense person” who “was definitely the boss.” For 35 years, she worked at Foote Allegiance Hospital in Jackson as a registered nurse in the operating room, according to their obituary.
Meanwhile, LD was described as a “fun-loving person” with “more friends than anyone could count,” his family wrote. He was a retired truck driver, a veteran of the United States Navy Reserves, and a member of the Lions Club.
The family noted in the obit that despite being “polar opposites,” they “made it work for almost 50 years,” with Sisk adding to WDIV, “Overall, it was give-and-take. They picked their battles.”
Unfortunately, their sweet love story came to an end in a Michigan hospital last week after both contracted the deadly coronavirus, which has infected at least 377,596 people and killed 9,461 in the state, according to the New York Times.
“It’s tough enough to lose one parent but this was the worst,” Sisk told WDIV, noting that it was especially difficult to hear people talk about the virus recently without realizing that her parents were “in the hospital fighting for their lives.”
“I just had tears streaming down my cheeks listening to them,” she recalled to the outlet. “Our entire family is completely devastated.”
As of Monday, there have been at least 13.5 million cases and 267,515 deaths attributed to coronavirus in the United States, according to the New York Times.
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