According to their obituary, after Tom’s retirement, he and Delma traveled around the US, and they spent their twilight years going from campsite to campsite.
“It was only last month when my mother became sick, we consulted different doctors however her health didn’t recover.”
“They couldn’t get a pulse. They couldn’t get blood pressure. They couldn’t get anything. Yet mama was just hanging on to something,” Nichols teared up. “That something must have been her husband, my dad.”
“He fell ill just a few days after mama and we got him over to the nursing home with her,” she continued. “They had pushed their little beds together and she was laying right there, facing him. She was asleep and Daddy her hand and he just laid there with her, and it was so sweet.”
Finally, on April 21, they passed away. She added as tears rolled down her eyes. One of the couple’s granddaughters, Stephanie Rutkowski, posted on Facebook:
“My papa and nanny both passed away today holding each other’s hands a little over an hour apart. What a blessing for them to be able to go together!”
The couple had two daughters, seven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. They are now buried side-by-side at Restwood Memorial Park in Clute, Texas.
From hospice to funeral home to final resting place, Tom and Delma didn’t leave each other’s side. Now, at Restwood Memorial Park, they’ll never have to.
