For decades, they lived side by side, devoted to each other.
So for friends of Presley and Ethel Bradshaw, it came was no surprise that the elderly couple died just as they had lived: together.
Presley died in his Louisville, Kentucky nursing home on Monday - just four hours before his wife of 73 years passed away in their shared room.
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Sweethearts: Presley Bradshaw (left) died four hours before his wife of 73 years, Ethel (right) in their shared room in a Kentucky nursing home
Enduring love: Unable to live without her, Presley had joined his wife at the home
'They were a true epitome of the word love,' Chasity Stoudemire, unit manager at the Meadowview Health and Rehab Center, told Wave3.com.
The couple married in 1938 and had one daughter.
Four years ago, Ethel, who was suffering from dementia, moved to the nursing home - but her husband was never far away.
'He would come several times a week to visit and just hold her hand, kiss all over her, tell her how much he loved her and missed her,' Shannon Bass from the center told wave3.com.
Happy: Visiting his wife at the home, Presley would shower her with kisses
Together: The pair, who had one daughter, were married in 1938
Two years later, Presley joined his wife at the home.
'Every time you pass them, they would be sitting together. He would stop you and say: "Have you met my blushing bride?"' remembered Bass.
'Every time you pass them, they would be sitting together. He would stop you and say: "Have you met my blushing bride?"'
Following deteriorating health, Presley died aged 101. Staff believe his wife, who died aged 99, was aware her husband had gone.
'Even though she couldn't talk to us and she couldn't tell us what was on her mind, and she couldn't express that something about him not being there made her feel something was missing,' Stoudemire said.
Their lives and deaths share similarities with the film The Notebook, in which an elderly couple who have loved each other since their teenage years die within hours of each other.
The couple leaves behind their daughter, one granddaughter and two great granddaughters.
Lifetime of love: The Bradshaws' story is similar to the film, The Notebook, in which a couple devoted to each other since their youth die hours after each other
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092361/Presley-Ethel-Bradshaw-Couple-married-73-years-die-just-FOUR-HOURS-apart.html#ixzz1kcoqjSQ6
