Don And Maxine Simpson: Married 62 Years, They Die 4 Hours Apart

Don and Maxine Simpson were a couple that couldn’t stand being apart from one another. The way they died is a testament to the love they felt for each other.

The couple died on July 21; Maxine was 87 and Don was 90. ABC News 23 covers the romantic love story of the Simpsons. Married 62 years, Don and Maxine died four hours apart. Their granddaughter, Melissa Sloan, tells their love story.

“It’s absolutely beautiful, and the story is beautiful,” Sloan says.

She starts by saying that all Don Simpson wanted was to be with his “beautiful wife” because he “loved her to the end of the Earth.” They met in a bowling alley a few years after Don moved to Bakersfield from North Dakota; he studied Civil Engineering, which brought him to Bakersfield. A couple of years after they met, they got married.

The Simpsons heavily involved themselves in community activities, such as the Rotary, YMCA, and Boy’s and Girl’s Club. Don was one of the founders of the Bakersfield Racket Club. They traveled the globe and adopted two boys.

Even at the end of their lives, they died just hours apart. Don and Maxine Simpson weren’t leaving the other alone.

“They left this world together,” Sloan says.

The cancer Maxine had been battling for years got worse, and two weeks ago, Don fell down and broke his hip. His health was rapidly declining after he was taken to the hospital.

Melissa tells ABC 23:

“I told my sister on the phone, we got one shot to get them together.”

The family didn’t want them apart, so they put them in a bedroom with their beds side-by-side.

Sloan continues:

“Gram woke up and saw him, and held hands and they knew that they were next to each other.”

Melissa isn’t surprised her grandparents passed on the way they did. She says:

“I knew in my heart this is what’s supposed to happen. Grandma and grandpa are supposed to be together and grandma and grandpa are going to die together.”

Melissa went on to say that she could hear on the hospital monitor when her grandmother stopped breathing. When she was gone, Maxine’s body was moved out of the room. Four hours later, Don passed away.

The Age published more of what Melissa had to say about the deep love and caring that her grandparents had for one another:

“Nothing mattered more to Don in life than his beautiful wife and nothing concerned Maxine more than the well being of her husband, both genuinely concerned for one another.”

The pair truly cared about the other and She notes that generations of today are “missing” what Don and Maxine Simpson shared.

Melissa Sloan reflects:

“They had what this generation is missing, the compassion, understanding and unconditional love that a spouse should have for the other no matter what, til the end of time.”

[Photo Credit: Melissa Sloan via FOX News]