A husband and wife died within 20 minutes of one another side-by-side in a South Dakota nursing home after 63 years of marriage.

KSFY-TV said Henry and Jeanette De Lange died at Platte Care Centre.

The couple's son, Lee De Lange, said his 87-year-old mother suffered from Alzheimer's and had been in a nursing home since 2011. He said his 86-year-old father visited her daily before recently entering the same nursing home.

He said that after his mother died peacefully, he told his father: "Mom's gone to heaven. You don't have to fight any more, you can go too if you want."

He said his father looked at his wife, closed his eyes and died minutes after.

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