After enjoying a long, love-filled life together, partners Otho and Grace McEntire passed away within sixteen hours of each other.
The couple, aged eighty-four and eighty-eight from Agra, Oklahoma, had been married for nearly seventy-one years.
Grace was born on June 23, 1937, in Parkland, Oklahoma. Then, at only thirteen years old, she was wed to Otho. The pair had met after Otho moved to Parkland, Oklahoma, and attended school with Grace.
From there on out, the couple's life was regarded as "full of love," according to Otho's obituary. Over the years, they welcomed five children into the world– Bobby, Evon, Tawanna, LaReva, and Brenda– and settled in Agra.
Otho worked diligently in the oilfield his entire life, while Grace owned and operated the McEntire family grocery store until the late 1970s. She later went on to work at Walmart until finally retiring in 2001.
Earlier this year, both Grace and Otho's health simultaneously began to worsen. After enduring complications from Alzheimer's Disease, the pair, unfortunately, wound up in separate care facilities.
And after spending nearly their whole lives together, it was unbearable for the couple to be apart.
LaReva Mandeville described how her mom "had constantly been asking for dad, for days and days and days," in a statement to People.
The McEntire family worried that reuniting the lovebirds would be impossible after Otho's health declined even further.
But, at eighty-nine years old, he was miraculously able to be transported to Grace's same facility.
Later that same day, Otho passed away at about 10 p.m. Grace followed and died about sixteen hours later.
The couple's funeral was thoughtfully held on May 3– what would have been their seventy-first wedding anniversary.
And their lifelong modeling of persistence, commitment, and love will forever stick with Grace and Otho's family.
"[Otho] was a very dependable and loving soul. He would give anyone help that needed it and went out of his way many times to lend a hand," read Otho's obituary.
Grace, too, was regarded as "a mother to many."
"She never hesitated to love others as her own," Grace's obituary shared.
To learn more about the couple's journey through life together, you can visit Grace's obituary here and Otho's obituary here.
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