Madelyn And Marcus Yensen: Married For 74 Years, Utah Couple Die Within Hours Of Each Other

In yet another case of a couple living their wedding vows and staying together till the end, Utah couple Madelyn and Marcus Yensen, who were married for 74 years, died within hours of each other. The couple, who were residents of Salt Lake City, Utah, passed away on April 7 — within a few hours of each other — on the same day, reports the Seattle Pi.

On April 7, a few hours after Madelyn died following a seizure, Marcus passed away as well. He died of heart failure. Madelyn was 94 while Marcus was 95-years-old. The Utah couple had lived together for 74 years and even death could not keep them apart.

According to official records, the Utah couple had married on October 17, 1940. Family members say it was an instant love story. The two had met just a month earlier, when Marcus went to her studio for a dance lesson. Cupid struck and the couple were married a month later. The duo stayed together for the next seven decades until their deaths. Even in their deaths, they remained together. The couple had three children and lived in a brick home in Utah, where they raised them.

Seven decades later, daughter Carol Bradford emotionally remembers her parents. In an interview to the Deseret News, she reveals how her father always wanted his wife to pass away peacefully — with proper care. On the day of her death, Carol went to inform Marcus about the death of his beloved wife at 4:08 p.m.

“I leaned over and whispered in his ear, ‘Mom has passed, and she’s waiting for you in heaven.’ I think after that, he knew he had accomplished what he needed, and he felt that he could let go,” she told.

Five hours later, at around 9:30 p.m., Marcus, too, passed away.

Carol, who remembers the lovable moments their parents had shared with each other, added the following.

“They were always together, and they were always very happy with each other.”

The Utah couple’s other son, Byron Yensen, said it was painful for the family to lose both of them on the same day. However, it is comforting for them to realize that both of them passed away within hours of each other.

He told the Deseret News the following.

“It would have been very difficult for Mom or Dad to live without the other… They really loved each other. He didn’t want to die and leave her here. He wanted to take care of her.”

Marcus Yensen served in the U.S. Army during World War II and then took up a job as a Union Pacific Railroad engineer. His wife remained a homemaker, taking care of the family and the children all her life.

A funeral service will be held for the Utah couple on May 9 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City.

[Images via Deseret News]