A devoted couple aged 80 and 86 died from coronavirus within 17 hours of each other just months after celebrating 60 years of marriage.
Bryn and Pat Howells received a card from the Queen just five months ago congratulating them on their Diamond wedding anniversary.
They were both on ventilators in a hospital’s coronavirus ward when they passed away on Easter Monday.
Bryn and Pat Howells, pictured, aged 86 and 80 respectively, died from coronavirus within 17 hours of each other just months after celebrating 60 years of marriage
Their family is taking comfort in the fact that they died just a few feet apart on the same day.
Relatives said it was a mystery how the pair contracted the disease as they had both been isolating for four weeks.
But Pat, 80, started to feel unwell on Saturday April 4 and Bryn, 86, began developing similar symptoms.
The couple were both admitted to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant, South Wales, last Thursday and tested positive for coronavirus.
They died on the same ward on Easter Monday – Pat passed away at 2am and Bryn at 7pm.
Tributes were paid to the grandparents, who were described as ‘pillars of the community’.
Their grandson, Elliot, said: ‘We are trying to take some comfort in the fact they died together, after 60 years of joyous marriage.
‘Nanny, especially, was so well. We always said she was a very young 80-year-old, and she had decades left in her.
Bryn and Pat Howells pictured on their Diamond Wedding anniversary (left) five months ago and with their relatives (right). The pair died on the same ward on Easter Monday
‘It is just horrific and such a shock. Just over a week ago, I spoke to her and she was pressure washing her garden and painting her hallway.
‘When she first started feeling ill she thought it was because she had overdone it a bit.’
Bryn and Pat, from the former mining village of Gelli, Rhondda, were not allowed visitors after being admitted to hospital.
Elliot, based in London, praised doctors and nurses for the ‘fantastic’ way they kept the family informed.
Pat moved to the Rhondda Valley as an evacuee from Birmingham in World War II when she was just a few months old.
She started going to the local chapel when she was five and continued serving there for the rest of her life as deacon, treasurer and caretaker.
Pat was also a popular lunchtime supervisor at Gelli Primary School and carried on working past retirement age.
Bryn and Pat (centre) with their relatives. The pair had four sons, 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Elliot, their grandson, said: ‘They took such pride in their family’
Bryn was a financial advisor for Legal & General but is known in the Welsh valleys for singing with the Treorchy Male Voice Choir.
The couple had four sons, 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Elliot said: ‘Their home had an open door and their house was so full of love.
‘They took such pride in their family and we loved celebrating their diamond anniversary just a few months ago.
‘Nanny was elated to receive a card from the Queen. We are such a close family.
‘It was heartbreaking that we couldn’t see them in hospital, but the healthcare staff and everyone at the hospital were brilliant.
‘We were never kept in the dark and knew they were getting the best care.
‘We just want to warn people to stay at home, and to be extremely careful of anything coming into the house.
‘Make sure you disinfect anything, and wash down the surfaces. We have to be so careful.’