Couple married for 68 years pass away within hours of each other

A husband and wife who were married for 68 years have passed away within a day of each other.

Bob and Corinne Johnson, from the United States, spent their final days side by side in hospital.

Bob had been diagnosed with cancer but was soon joined by his wife who was suffering congestive heart failure.

Their son, Bruce, who is a cancer doctor, was surprised to see his father decline so quickly.

"I sort of thought he looked like he could go for weeks," Bruce told Kare11.

"As soon as mum died he went downhill and died in a day. It's hard to imagine it's a coincidence."

Bob was 88 and Corrine was 87.

They had seven children, who were raised in a farmhouse in rural Minnesota. Up until six months ago, Bob and Corrine lived in the same house where they moved soon after getting married in 1951.

"When mum passed, they pulled the curtain between the two beds, he just stared at the curtain," the couple's daughter, Beth Kinkeade, said.

Their son, Brent, said his father always put others ahead of him – especially his beloved wife.

"So it was only fitting that in the end he waited for mother to go first and then he passed away," Brent Johnson says.

Bob died just 33 hours after Corrine.

The couple was laid to rest in a joint funeral on Tuesday.

"Corinne and Robert spent more than 68 years together and took great pride in their family," an obituary read.

"It seems only fitting that they would both pass into eternal life together, surrounded by those who loved them."