Couple married for 72 years die just one day apart

After being married 72 years, June and Norbert Rogers of South Carolina died just one day apart.

Their story seems fit for a Nicholas Sparks movie. They eloped in 1941, when Norbert was in the Navy and June was still in her teens. Her mother said it wouldn't last, but the couple proved her wrong, staying married seven decades and having five children together, WYFF reports. They also had 14 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren, according to their joint obituary.

While June was known to be seriously ill before her death this month, her husband was believed to have been in good health, according to WYFF's report. However, it was Norbert who went first, mere hours before his wife of 72 years. He was 97. She was 89.

Wes Crisp, a friend of the Rogers family, told WYFF, "I believe he willed himself to go before she did because there were no visible signs that he was sick. So you could say, I guess, that he died of a broken heart."

Those who asked the Rogers for marriage advice were usually told the same bits of wisdom, according to WYFF:  Be kind, lift each other up, don't put each other down.

"For some folks, it's just a piece of paper. June and Norbert were a testimony of what marriage is supposed to be about. Till death do us part, and that is what parted them," Crisp told WYFF.

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