Couple who were married for 69 years die together holding hands

A couple married for 69 years died within an hour of each other while holding hands at a hospital in Chicago.

Teresa and Isaac Vatkin passed away in the same room only 40 minutes apart on Saturday.

Family members said they took comfort in knowing they were together when they passed away.

Staff at the Highland Park Hospital found the couple unresponsive and breathing shallowly and chose to place their beds side by side.

The family then positioned their hands so they were touching.

Succumbing to Alzheimer’s disease, 89-year-old Teresa died first. Issac, 91, died 40 minutes later.

"I didn't want them to be scared," their granddaughter Debbie Handler told the Daily Herald.

"I thought maybe if they knew the other was there, it would help."

At their joint funeral service on Monday, their daughter Clara Gesklin said: "Their love for each other was so strong, they simply could not live without each other.”

The couple raised three children in Skokie, Illinois, and had a close relationship with their grandchildren, the family said.

Mr Vatkin was a kosher meat distributor and Mrs Vatkin a homemaker and manicurist.