Married for 71 years, a husband and wife die two days apart

Daniel Zane was a World War II veteran who had once dashed across an open field in the midst of enemy fire to administer first aid to a fellow soldier. That’s who he was, his family told CNN: a man who was brave in the face of terrifying danger.

On April 17, he died due to complications from Covid-19, his family said, just two days after the passing of his wife, Valerie Zane, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease and dementia. She had not been tested for Covid-19, the family said.

Daniel Zane was 94. Valerie Zane was 91. They had been married for 71 years.

“We could say many romantic things about this,” their eldest daughter, Robin Zane, 68, said. “But the truth is we did have plans with our dad and he was planning life after his wife passed, and that didn’t happen.”

Daniel Zane lived in the same senior living facility as his wife in Haverford, Pennsylvania, but he was in the independent living unit, while she was in the skilled nursing unit as she needed more support. As the pandemic intensified, he made the choice to move to his wife’s nursing unit to help take care of her, his daughters said.

“It seemed like another reflection of his commitment and bravery,” his other daughter, Nancie Zane, 64, told CNN. “He did go without hesitation just so that he could be with her.”

‘Love at first sight’

Daniel and Valerie met when they went sailing on a blind date, accompanied by friends. He would say that his eyes popped out of his head when he saw his future wife, his family told CNN. “This was love at first sight for him,” Nancie Zane said.

But Valerie made Daniel wait — she was busy for the next six weeks, she said. “I’ll see you soon,” she told him, according to Nancie Zane. Three years later, they were getting married.

On their wedding day, she was 21 and he was 24. The family lived for years in White Plains, New York. He was a lawyer and she was a medical administrator, their daughters said.

When the coronavirus pandemic struck, Daniel’s love for his wife remained as strong as it had been more than 70 years ago.

He would push his wife in a wheelchair every day to and from meals at the senior living facility. At 94, his appetite for learning remained robust: He took community college classes and read the newspaper from cover to cover, Robin Zane said.

Valerie loved fashion design and took great care of the way she dressed, Nancie Zane said. But as she became increasingly ill this became harder for her, so her husband always made sure that she was dressed in clothes that she would find comfortable and stylish.

“It’s unusual for husbands to pay attention in that way,” Nancie Zane said.

Their final days

Three weeks before Valerie’s death, the family members say they were told that her oxygen levels were depleted. They knew that she could pass away soon and they were prepared for that, her daughters told CNN. But they thought their father would remain with them longer.

On April 14, after a few days of extreme fatigue and profuse coughing, Daniel’s Covid-19 test came back positive, his family said. In the meantime, they said his wife’s condition deteriorated and she became unresponsive.

On April 15, Valerie died, and Daniel was having a hard time talking or controlling his motor skills, his daughters said. Thirty minutes after midnight on April 17, he passed away due to complications from Covid-19.

“This was finally a way for her (Valerie) not to be trapped in her wheelchair. It was still sad but we felt that this was her time,” Nancie Zane said. “But we were shocked about my dad and still deeply sad.”

Before his death, Daniel wanted to come visit his eldest daughter in California, and maybe even go to Mount Rushmore, Robin Zane said. She wasn’t sure about that, she recalled saying to him, but she told him that Yosemite National Park would be a good compromise.

Daniel also had plans to visit his daughter, Nancie, in Philadelphia after the death of his wife.

“His expectation was that he was going to live … his belief was life goes on,” Nancie Zane said. “That’s what he taught us — is that you need to keep going and find those moments in life that are still full of joy.”