Nowadays, people are impressed when they hear couples celebrating 10, 20, or 30 years of marriage.
Fifty years of marriage are a milestone few are fortunate enough to reach. Seventy-nine years of marriage is almost unheard of.
Not for Hubert and June Malicote of Hamilton, Ohio.
They celebrated a lifetime of love and marriage when they commemorated their 79th wedding anniversary a few months ago.
The married couple also took their vows of “till death do us part” seriously when they passed away less than 24 hours apart.
Hubert and June were both 100 years old when Hubert died on November 30. June passed away the following day.
After Thanksgiving, June became sick and entered hospice care. On November 25, Hubert visited her and was also admitted. They spent their last days with each other, unconscious but in two beds pushed together before June passed away.
“I feel sad, but I shouldn’t. Who can expect to live a life like that? They went out together, ” their 76-year-old son Sam Malicote told The Dayton Daily News.
He also said that his father died of a “broken heart.”
Their daughter Jo Malicote told the Today show that her mother’s health deteriorated in the last few years and had suffered several strokes. However, Hubert’s health only declined after June entered hospice care.
“He went from 100 to zero in the span of three days. My dad saw what was happening to my mom. He knew the prognosis and he wasn’t going to let her go alone. He lined up to be with her,” she also shared.
Their deaths marked the end of an 81-year-long love story that began when they met in church when they were both 19 years old.
They became friends and then soon fell in love with each other. They got married on June 8, 1943.
Their life together included surviving the Great Depression and the COVID pandemic. It also survived being apart for years because of war.
Like many couples of their generation, Hubert left to serve in World War II soon after they were married.
June was unaware that he was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Hubert wanted to give her a clue as to where he was. He thought of a creative way to let her know without telling her his location explicitly.
“I was in the commissary, and I saw a grass skirt on the wall. I thought if I could mail that, it would give her some indication of where I might be,” Hubert shared with WLWT News a few months before he passed away.
June received the package from Hubert. In a few weeks, he received a photo of June wearing the grass skirt he had sent. “I had my own Honolulu girl,” he said.
Two years later, they were reunited when June was waiting for him at the train station when he returned from serving in the army.
They settled in Hamilton, Ohio, where they would live the rest of their lives together.
They went on to live a life full of love and family. Hubert and June shared three children, seven grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.
“We’ve never had a quarrel, we’ve never had one quarrel,” June told WLWT.
They took their marriage vows seriously until they died only hours after each other.
Daughter Jo said, “When Dad passed away, they were hand in hand. [Mom] slipped away to be with him.”
What a fitting end to a wonderful love story that spanned decades. We can only hope to experience such love in our lives.
Hubert and June Malicote’s love story is an extraordinary example of marriage done right.
To see the beautiful couple’s final interview together, watch the video below!
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