‘I can’t live without him’: Wife’s last words after losing husband of 76 years

A couple who were married for over seven decades passed away within hours of one another, on their 76th wedding anniversary.

HMAIN

by Closer staff |
Published on

Clifford Hartland, and his devoted wife, Marjorie, were barely apart during their years together and when Clifford sadly died, at the age of 101, Marjorie, 97, could not bear to be without him.

She passed away peacefully, just 14 hours after his death, telling her daughter, Christine, just hours before that she could not go on without him.

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Christine, 67, recalled: “Afterwards, Mum just kept saying, 'I can't live without him'. That night, Mum rang me. She was upset and I told her to think about all the happy times they'd shared in their marriage while she drifted off to sleep.

“She died at 1am, and I like to think that's exactly what she was doing. It's a perfect love story. I'm devastated they're gone but so happy for them - they've never really had to live without one another.”

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The couple met in Cardiff and married in 1938. They were separated by war, when Clifford was sent to Singapore in 1941. His regiment surrendered to the Japanese and he was forced to work, as a prisoner of war, losing almost half his body weight under the brutal conditions.

In 1942, Marjorie was told Clifford was missing, presumed dead, but refused to believed it. She worked in parachute factory in Cardiff for the war effort but never gave up hope.

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Following his release, Clifford returned home and was discharged in 1945. The couple then had Christine before moving to Coventry, in 1947.

From the day he returned home, the pair were inseparable and, as Christine recalls, their love only grew stronger over the years.

“They were just so happy to be together again. They had an incredible marriage. They never, ever argued. Dad idolised Mum and she adored him.”

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