It was only a couple months ago 85-year-old Melvin Cornelson was singing “You Are My Sunshine” to his wife Doris.

His family says he always knew how to impress a woman, and his life there was only one. “They never dated anyone else,” says Melvin’s daughter Candi Sawatzky.

Melvin and Doris celebrated their 62nd anniversary this year. Candi decided to move her parents to Buhler from Oklahoma in May when their health began to fail.

“They always stuck up for each other.  Always.  She said he was the first man she ever kissed and the only one she ever kissed,” says Candi.

Through the years they made an impression.

“Everywhere they went they got attention. They're that couple that grew old together,” says Diana Spencer who works at the Sunshine Meadows Retirement Community in Buhler.

Not only did they grow old together, they died together. “They're together…they're happy,” says Candi.

After a battle with cancer Melvin died last Thursday.  Doris, like she had been for more than six decades, was by his side.

“She got up and came and sat with him,” says Candi. But within hours, Doris began to fade.

“She sat with us all morning and planned some things. She went to bed at noon and never got up.”

Their family has a theory.

“I think he said enough was enough and that gives her permission to go,” says Candi’s husband Randy.

“I do it think it was permission for her to go,” says Candi.

Melvin and Doris weren't going anywhere without each other.

“I have great pictures in my head of what they're doing,” says Candi.
And that’s why even in death, the people Melvin and Doris left behind can do nothing other than smile.

“They're happy. I know they are.”

Elderly couple dies within hours of each other.