Ohio's Gene Warrington and wife Pat married for 69 years die hours apart

• Gene Warrington, 88, and his wife Pat, 86, died on December 27 in Ohio
• Son Phil Warrington said his father recognized that Pat was in critical condition and pulled out his own intravenous tubes the next day
• 'You could have almost predicted it. They did everything in their life together. They were never apart,' said their son

By Associated Press

Published: 09:16 EST, 7 January 2015 | Updated: 14:05 EST, 7 January 2015

A day before Gene Warrington, 88, passed away in her hospice room she was paid one final visit by her equally ill husband.

The pair, inseparable since high school and who wed in secret as love-struck teens, held hands for 45 minutes before parting.

Pat Warrington could see his wife's death was imminent so returned to his own room and pulled out all his intravenous tubes. He died exactly eight hours after his wife of 69 years.

High school sweethearts: Throughout their 69-year marriage, Gene (left) and Pat (right) Warrington were always together, dying just eight hours apart

Phil Warrington said his father recognized that Pat was in critical condition and made the decision to pull out his tubes.

'We were able to get them together for about 45 minutes and he held her hand,' son Phil Warrington said.

'He said it wouldn't be fun without her,' the son added.

The pair, from Ohio, met in junior high school and wed secretly as teenagers while he was home from boot camp before leaving for World War II. Pat was 16 and Gene was 18.

Til death do us part: Gene pulled out his own life saving tubes on December 27 so that he could die along with his wife of 69 years

The wedding was kept a secret so that Pat could graduate high school. After Gene returned from war, he graduated from high school in 1947, a year after Pat's graduation.

'He told me that when he came back from war, he knew he never wanted to be away from her again,' Phil Warrington said.

Their family grew with three children, seven grandchildren and a dozen great-grandchildren. Throughout it, the Warringtons were nearly inseparable, even in failing health at the end of their love story, their son said.

'You could have almost predicted it,' he said.

'They did everything in their life together. They were never apart.'

'They had been feeding on each other all along,' he concluded.