American couple die minutes apart after 63 years of marriage

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- An American couple married for over six decades has proven that even death is not strong enough to keep the loved ones separated.

Henry and Jeanette De Lange, who married 63 years ago, both died last Sunday within 20 minutes in the same room at a nursing home in the U.S. state of South Dakota.

"We're calling it a beautiful act of God's providential," Lee De Lange, one of their five children told KSFY, a CNN affiliate.

Suffering from Alzheimer's disease, 87-year-old Jeantte had been living in the nursing home since 2011, while her husband, 86-year-old Henry, visited her everyday.

After being diagnosed with prostate cancer and suffering a few falls, Henry moved to the nursing home where he shared a room with his wife.

On July 31, the family was told that both of them were not doing well. At 5:10 p.m. local time (2310 GMT), Jeanette passed away, and 20 minutes later, Henry died.

A while after their deaths, Lee noticed something strange about the clock on the wall, according to local media.

"I looked at the clock and it stopped at 5:30, the exact time dad passed away," Lee said.