'Til death do us part: husband and wife married for 71 years, die on the same day

Saturday, July 13, 2019

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT)-- For more than 70 years, one couple remained married, in love, and full of life. The husband and wife's love was so strong they took their final breaths on the exact same day.

Husband Herbert Delaigle died at 2:20 a.m. on Friday morning. Then 12 hours later, his wife Frances Delaigle died at 2:20 p.m. Friday afternoon.

Herbert and Frances Delaigle's story begins in a Waynesboro Cafe, where they met when they were only 16 and 22.

"Frances worked at a little cafe we had in Waynesboro named White Way Cafe," Herbert said in a 2018 interview. "I kept seeing her going in and out, in and out and I had my eyes set on her. And then I finally got up the nerve to ask her if she would go out with me sometime."

Their first date was at the movies. One year later, Herbert popped the question.

"I asked her will she have me as her husband and she said, of course," Herbert said.

An easy yes for Frances. But, it was a wedding that almost didn't happen.

"He was always late," Frances told News 12.

Herbert says the preacher almost didn't marry them because they were an hour late to the church. After some convincing, the preacher rushed through the service. It was the cheapest wedding to date.

"$5 is all I paid for her," Herbert said with a laugh.

Frances says her husband kept her laughing all through life. And even at 93-year-old, he still cracked jokes.

"What do I like most about you?" Herbert asked Frances. "I don't know," she laughed.

But clearly she knew and he knew, their shared a remarkable love.