Couple was born, died on the same day

An elderly Sioux Falls couple died together Saturday, side by side, of separate illnesses.

Diana Kraft and her husband, Kent, had been married for about 43 years, both born on the same day: Sept. 2, 1941. Diana Kraft had battled Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and Kent had a brief illness.

Police spokesman Loren McManus said the deaths of the Krafts were not suspicious or criminal. He said Kent Kraft had a heart condition.

It was a unique situation, reminiscent of the movie “The Notebook,” he said.

“It’s kind of like that. They’ve been together forever and she was very, very sick and she died,” McManus said. “Whatever effect that had on him, that was it.”

Joel Vipond, funeral director at Miller Funeral Home, said he has never experienced this in his 30 years of funeral service – in which a couple are born and died on the same day.

“It is about as unusual as it gets,” he said. “To have a couple die in the home of totally unrelated causes is rare.

“It’s tough enough to lose one (parent), but it’s doubly devastating to lose them both.”

The couple met in Mitchell while Kent Kraft was a Dakota Wesleyan University student and Diana Schroder was working at St. Joseph’s Hospital as a nurse.

The Krafts have two children, Deborah of Sioux Falls and Calvin of Rock Rapids, Iowa, and a grandson, Andrew, of Sioux Falls.

Link

This entry was posted in Interesting. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Couple was born, died on the same day

  1. Doug says:

    Ah, I’m a total cornball and loved the movie The Notebook! Who could ask for anything more? Live a great life with the one they love and leave this wworld with that very person.

Comments are closed.