‘One for the ages’: Couple die hours apart after 79 years of marriage

Published: Dec. 8, 2022 at 3:43 AM EST

HAMILTON, Ohio (WLWT) - An Ohio couple have done everything together since they married nearly 80 years ago, and when the time came, they died together as well.

Few are lucky enough to experience the love that Hubert and June Malicote, who both turned 100 in July, shared for so long. They celebrated their 79th wedding anniversary on June 8.

“It’s one for the ages. It just simply is. How often do you hear a story like this?” said the couple’s daughter, Jo Malicote. “It was a fairy tale of just happiness.”

With three children, seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, the two youngsters who met at church and married just before Hubert Malicote was shipped off to World War II loved each other until their dying day.

“I think Dad was aware that Mom’s time was limited, and I just believe that he was ready to go with her,” Jo Malicote said.

When June Malicote was diagnosed with a heart condition in August, doctors said she probably wouldn’t make it past the end of the year. Two months later, she became ill with a urinary tract infection and never fully recovered.

Even at his age, Hubert Malicote was still the picture of health, his daughter says. But she believes he died of a broken heart on Nov. 30, less than a day before his wife died.

“He literally, I think, just willed himself to go on ahead of her, and he went 20 hours ahead of her,” Jo Malicote said.

Hubert Malicote held his wife’s hand on his deathbed, and his daughter says their family comforted June Malicote in her final hours.

“We sang to her, we read scriptures to her and we gave her permission to go on, to be with Daddy,” Jo Malicote said.

The couple truly experienced a love story for the ages. They will be buried together Thursday in Hamilton, Ohio.