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Couple Who Were Married for 73 Years Dies Within Hours of Each Other | It Was Love at First Sight for Them

Couple Who Were Married for 73 Years Dies Within Hours of Each Other | It Was Love at First Sight for Them

They both were sharing the same room in the hospital where Wanda was battling Alzheimer's and Jim was physically unwell.

A couple who was married for 73 years, died within hours of each other. They lived up to their commitment to being together in life and in death. 

Wanda Wold had been battling Alzheimer's disease for years before she passed away on July 20. Candy Engstler, her daughter, told KCCI, "They called from the nursing home about 4 a.m. and said she had passed."  

Wanda, 96, had been married for 73 years to Jim Wold, 94. When Engstler and her sister were at the nursing home with their father who shared a room with his wife, Jim prayed to say "‘Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for taking her, and would you please take me now too?', " said Engstler.

News about her father's passing was broken to Engstler on another call from the nursing home several hours later. "About 7 o’clock, I got the call that he had also passed." He was physically unwell.

 

 

Engstler has some fond memories of her parents. She remembered that her father lied about his age to join the Navy when he was 17 years old. It wasn't the first time he misrepresented his age. Their daughter said, "My mom was 96, which she didn’t like. She felt she robbed the cradle, and dad lied about his age."

She also shared a video from their 70th wedding anniversary where someone asks them if it was love at first sight for both of them. Jim stated in a video commemorating their 70th wedding anniversary, "I think it was for me, on my part at least. I don’t know about her." Wanda replied, "You know it was." “I know it was,” he says.

 

 

She said, "They were lucky and fortunate that he allowed them both to go the same day. My dad wouldn’t have wanted to be here without her, so it was a blessing." She admits that losing both of her parents on the same day is difficult, but she finds solace in the fact that her parents' marriage was founded on love and faith in God.

"I just feel it was definitely their time, and the Lord called them and he called them in a beautiful way. And so, I just hang on to that."

Their grandson, Dan Engstler, posted a tribute to his grandparents on Facebook upon their death. He wrote, "JamesWanda Wold: 94 & 96 years old. Married for 73 years. God was up to something today, calling them both to heaven 15 hours apart. Rest In Peace Grandma & Grandpa!"

References:

https://www.fox8live.com/2021/07/23/couple-married-73-years-dies-hours-apart/

https://www.facebook.com/dan.engstler.1/posts/1207945423040319

Cover Image Source: Dan Engstler/Facebook