Elderly couple married for 62 years die hand-in-hand in hospital less than 90 minutes apart

Still holding hands: Delma and Tom Ledbetter, who married 62 years ago, fell ill within days of each other in April and passed away just an hour and a half apart from each other. Photo / Facebook

A married couple who spent the last 62 years of their lives together held hands as they died about an hour apart.

Holding hands on their deathbeds, the loving gesture that kicked off Tom and Delma Ledbetter's relationship all those years ago, was a fitting way to mark the last thing the couple would ever do together on this Earth.

"It was exactly how they wanted to go. It couldn't have been any better," their daughter Donetta Nichols told Click 2 Houston.

The Lake Jackson, Texas, couple died in hospice on April 21. Less than an hour and a half separated their passing. Tom was 84 years old and Delma was 82 years old.

Nichols, one of the Ledbetters' two daughters, said that her parents met when they were in their early 20s, after being introduced by mutual friends while living in Florida.

Their first "date" barely even counted as a date; it took place while Tom was moving his car one day.

"They drove around two, three different blocks or whatever and they came back and they parked," Nichols said, recalling what her father told her about the way her parents' long relationship began.

A vintage photo of Tom and Delma Ledbetter in their youth. They met while living in Florida. Photo / Ledbetter Family

"He said he reached over and he grabbed her hand and he said, 'I don't know what made me do it'. He said, 'I just reached over and gave her a kiss on the cheek'."

Thus began a whirlwind romance, and the two married after just three weeks.

The couple had two daughters. Over the years, their family expanded to include seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Happy couple Delma and Tom Ledbetter spent the last 62 years of their lives together. Photo / Ledbetter Family

After Tom retired, he and Delma travelled around the US, spending their twilight years going from campsite to campsite, according to their obituary.

But, last month, Delma became sick.

"They couldn't get a pulse. They couldn't get a blood pressure. They couldn't get anything. Yet Mama was just hanging on to something," Nichols said.

That something must have been her husband.

Tom fell ill just a few days after Delma did.

In life and in death, Tom and Delma Ledbetter never let go of each other's hands. Photo / Facebook

"We got him over to the nursing home with Mama," Nichols said.

"They had pushed their little beds together and Mama was laying right there, facing him.

She was asleep and Daddy goes and he reached over there and he grabbed a hold of her hand and he just laid there with her, and it was so sweet."

On April 21, the couple died.

"Together for 62 years here on earth and now they will continue to share their love in heaven.

"My papa and nanny both passed away today holding each other's hands a little over an hour apart. What a blessing for them to be able to go together!" Stephanie Rutkowske wrote on Facebook the day her grandparents died.

The Ledbetters are buried side-by-side at Restwood Memorial Park in Clute, Texas.