Georgia couple dies within hours of each other day after 60th wedding anniversary

SAVANNAH, Ga. — A Georgia couple has died within hours of each other a day after their 60th wedding anniversary.

JoJo McLaughlin died of pancreatic cancer Sept. 11, and Jimmy McLaughlin followed her hours later after suffering a massive heart attack.

The McLaughlins' double funeral was held at Savannah's Sacred Heart Catholic Church, the church where they were also baptized and married.

The couple met in the third grade and married at 18, according to the ABC News.

The couple's five children said they are convinced their father died of a broken heart.

"You could see the sorrow in his face," the couple's daughter, Suzanne Von Waldnerm, said. "If the people in this world loved each other as much as they loved each other, we wouldn't have any problems," Joe McLaughlin said.

Joe McLaughlin was talking to his father in the den when his father leaned his head back in his chair and closed his eyes, as if he were going to sleep. Suddenly Joe McLaughlin realized his father wasn’t napping. For Jimmy McLaughlin, death came almost 12 hours after JoJo McLaughlin died.

“They were the best parents anyone could ever hope for,” Joe McLaughlin said.

“It was a match made in heaven," Von Waldner said.

WSBTV