After 63 years together, it was as though Henry and Jeanette De Lange’s hearts beat as one.
The South Dakota couple’s family is busy celebrating their lives and remarkable love story after they died, side-by-side, just 20 minutes apart in late July.
“My brother Keith said to my dad: ‘Mom’s gone to heaven. You don’t have to fight anymore, you can go too if you want’.” according to their son, Lee De Lange, who recalled their moving, July 31st goodbye to KSFY-TV.
Henry, 86, had already proved to be inseparable from Jeanette, 87, despite her having checked into a Platte nursing home in 2011 for Alzheimer’s disease, their family told the Sioux Falls news station.
“Dad visited mom once a day, twice, or maybe three times a day,” Lee said. “It was very sweet.”
When his prostate cancer recently worsened he checked himself into the same room as her at the Platte Care Center. Shortly after, their children were notified that their health appeared to be declining.
Their children said they read them a Bible passage, Psalm 103, but before they could finish Jeannette was gone. They notified Henry who then turned and looked at his beloved wife one last time before settling back and closing his eyes, also for the last time.
A battery-powered clock on the wall helped mark the 20 minutes that passed between their deaths.
Remarkably, when the family looked back at the clock again, about 25 minutes later, they noticed something peculiar. The clock had stopped at 5:30 p.m., the very minute Henry passed away.
The couple’s family now believes that the clock’s failure was a message from God, telling them that it was their time.
“Mom and dad were Christians. They loved Christ. They wanted so badly to show their love for Christ and that they loved one another,” Lee said.
