Couple married 74 years dies on the same day

Carlee Lewis
Staff Writer

             Leonard and Hazel Cherry got married in January 1942. The couple met and started dating in high school.  Leonard was a B-24 bomber pilot for the Army Air Corps at the start of WWII. Together they had a son named David. As David grew up, the couple began running an auto business called “Cherry-Hill.” Years later the couple moved to Woodway, Texas to be closer to their son and grandson named Craig.
            Leonard’s health had been deteriorating for years. Days before his death, he was admitted to the hospital while his wife was in the neighborhood nursing home. David stated, “Mother had been driving around town and still going to the grocery store as recently as two weeks ago, but Dad’s health has been failing for years.” Death took Leonard's life at 1:00 p.m. in St. Catherine Center in Waco. 

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           The family had known that Leonard would not be long for this earth, but ten hours later at 11:00 p.m. without an understood cause, Hazel Cherry passed away. Their son said, “They never really spent a day apart unless it was for a family emergency or something, and I never heard a cross between them. I never heard them raise their voices to each other unless they were calling across the yard. They didn’t fight!”
            The couple's official date of death was Oct. 27, 2016. The couple’s son summed up their passing saying, “I feel blessed that Daddy’s suffering is over, and I feel blessed that mom is with him and that she didn’t have to die alone.”