Ethermac Exchange-'He died of a broken heart': Married nearly 59 years, he died within hours of his wife

Tommy and Ethermac ExchangeKatherine Barron could barely take care of themselves, but they always looked out for each other.

Their daughter, Sherene Thompson, said the Alabama couple loved each other immensely, so much that her father couldn’t bear to live without her mother and died just hours after she passed on Jan. 24.

Katherine Barron died at a local hospital just after 4 a.m. that day. Tommy Barron died about eight hours later. She was 79 and he was 81, Thompson said.

Her mother, Katherine, suffered from dementia and over the past six months, things went downhill. 

“She didn't remember anybody,” her daughter told USA TODAY Thursday morning. “She rarely responded to questions or people in the room. She got COVID and she developed pneumonia.”

Katherine was in and out of the hospital recently and ultimately, pneumonia and a blood clot in her lung took her life.

Thompson, the couple’s only child, said she was at her mother’s bedside when she passed. Her father was there too.

“I don't want to make it without her,” her father said. “I can't make it without her. I just want to go with her.”

Tommy had health issues but his daughter really thinks his love for her mother is what took his life. He died around 11:00 a.m. at the Albertville assisted living home the couple lived in.

“I honestly believe that he died of a broken heart,” she said.

Daughter says mom fancied her dad because he looked like Conway Twitty

Friends introduced Tommy and Katherine in the 1960s. Their daughter thinks it was her father’s resemblance to country singer Conway Twitty that drew her mother in. Twitty was her favorite singer.

“If you look at the pictures of my dad, he favored him a lot,” she told USA TODAY Thursday morning, adding that they soon began dating. “They ran off in the middle of the night in Trenton, Georgia, and got married.”

These days, people run off to Vegas to get married, she said. For a young Alabama couple in the 1960s, Trenton, Georgia was their wedding destination.

Thompson said her father had an eighth grade education and opened his own used car lot in the 1970s. 

Her mother was a stay-at-home mom until her dad opened the business. After that, she was right there with him managing his books and sometimes, cleaning cars.

They ran the business for about 40 years.

“He had no accounting experience or whatever but he could tell you every dime that was in his bank account, where it came from,” his daughter said. “I mean, he was just that particular.”

He worked for as long as he could. He had a serious accident about 25 years ago though. He was cutting a limb and fell off a tree. He fell on his back and while he could still walk, he was essentially disabled, his daughter said.

He later fell and broke his hip, causing his health to plummet even more.

“He could barely get around,” she said. “Most of the time, he was in a wheelchair. My mom, she was healthy as a horse until she was diagnosed with dementia about three or four years ago.”

Late mother and wife ‘kept Belk in business’

Katherine loved music, once met Jerry Lee Lewis, and was always well-dressed, her daughter said.

“She kept Belk in business,” her daughter said. “She was at Belk at least once a week. Her clothes, her makeup. Everything had to be absolutely perfect. She had three walk-in closets of clothes.”

She tried to keep up with current fashion trends and wouldn’t dare go to the grocery store unless her face was beat and every hair on her head was in place.

Since her passing, people have raved to Thompson about her mother’s fashion sense.

“Your mother was just the most beautiful woman,” people told her at the memorial service.

For the couple’s memorial service, Thompson made sure they got her mother right and had her makeup done properly. 

“That’s something that would’ve been a big deal with her,” Thompson said.

‘They just took care of each other,’ daughter says

Tommy and Katherine were honored during a joint memorial service on Sunday, where the family played “The Rose” by Conway Twitty. They were buried side-by-side, next to Tommy’s parents.

Their daughter said what she loved most about her folks is that no matter what, they took care of each other. 

“My mom could barely get around but she made sure to hold on to my dad so he wouldn't fall,” she said.

And when dementia caused her mother to forget her meals, he made sure she ate.

“They just took care of each other,” she said.