'United forever': Tributes pour in for couple who die 25 hours apart after 70 years together
LIMERICK, IRELAND: Moving tributes have been pouring in for an "amazing" and "united" couple who died just 25 hours apart. Terence and Maureen Byrnes, from Limerick, had been together for 70 years before they peacefully died at Millbrae Lodge Nursing Home, Newport, surrounded by their loving family.
Terence, affectionately known as Terry, and Maureen, aka Mary, will be put to rest next to wach other at Cross's Funeral Home, Gerald Griffin Street, on Sunday, March 19. On Monday, their funeral liturgy will be held at St Michael's Church on Denmark Street, followed by burial at Mount St Lawrence Cemetery. The loving couple is survived by their children Mary (Madden), Ger, Margaret (O'Neill-Clancy), Dianne (O'Sullivan), Evelyn (McNamara), and Noel, according to The Sun.
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'Devotion to each other'
"Terence (Terry) and his wife Maureen (Mary) (Nee McMahon) died peacefully, at Millbrae Lodge Nursing Home, Newport, surrounded by their loving family, twenty-five hours apart, after 70 years of loving friendship and devotion to each other,” a notice from funeral home reads. It added, "May they both Rest in Peace, united in love forever.” People have expressed their sympathies to the family as they remembered the couple as "wonderful parents and a pleasure to talk to."
A close family member remembered them as ‘hard-working’ souls, who “had a great sense of style which they also passed down to their four daughters especially.” “Nana always stepped out in her best with her hair always freshly done by her daughter Margaret or granddaughter Carla, and Granda with his always fresh pressed shirt, tie, trousers and immaculately polished shoes,” the family member wrote in the emotionally devastating post.
Similar incident
Terence and Maureen’s devastating death came months after a 100-year-old couple died just hours apart from one another. Hubert and June Malicote died after 79 years of marriage, according to their son, Sam, 76. Hubert died at 9.15 pm on November 30, 2022, and his wife died at 5.40 pm December 1, just about 20 hours later. Sam said his mother fell gravely ill the day after Thanksgiving and was put on end-of-life care at Hospice of Hamilton in Ohio.
"They went out together. I feel sad, but I shouldn’t. Who can expect to live a life like that? They lived a long, happy life together and they were devoted to God and the family," their grieving son said. They welcomed three children over the years, who went on to give them seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Earlier, in June 2022, the pair celebrated their 79th wedding anniversary and shared some valuable secrets of their long-lasting love, claiming they made a mission to never get into a serious argument.