Couple die within minutes of each other after 73 years of marriage
A Kentucky couple married for 73 years passed away within five minutes of each other while living in separate care homes.
Lillian “Lill” Karr Wilson, 89, and William “Wild Bill” Wilson, 93, were both Alzheimer;s patients and lived in different care facilities for the last few years.
On Tuesday, April 7th, their son, Doug Wilson, received two phone calls five minutes apart from each facility telling him of his parent’s passing.
Lillian died first - she had reportedly once said: “I’m not going 'til Bill goes". Doug received the call informing him of his mother's death at 3:52 a.m and at 3.57 a.m, his father's care home rang him to tell him his father had also passed away.
‘Lill’ and ‘Wild Bill’ were high school sweethearts who had married in 1941 - after eloping.
"They ran off, decided to get married, and I don't think either one of them had the blessings of their parents," Doug told Kentucky.com.
William enlisted in the army and after World War II, returned home where he managed department stores before hosting a morning radio show. He then bought a shopping centre which was scuppered by plans to build a bypass before developing a successful property business from $800.
Lillian was a bank teller until her retirement and helped her husband renovate properties.
The couple had last been together at Christmas when Doug had driven his mother to his father’s veteran nursing home in Wilmore.
"We all look at it as a blessing because we're having one funeral for both of them," he said.
