A COUPLE married for 71 years died five days apart in hospital with coronavirus.

Pat and Ron Wood, aged 91 and 94, were able to hold each other’s hands before passing away at Worthing Hospital.

Ron, Worthing Football Club’s top goalscorer after the Second World War, died on May 23, just five days after his beloved Pat.

The Argus:

Their only child, daughter Nikki Evans, said: “They did everything together.

“They lived at home independently for all those years and then he fell and went to the hospital.

“He got Covid, came home, and we all got it.

“They were originally in the male and female ward but Mum was very keen to be in the same ward.

“They have always been together and have always done everything together, so although it’s not nice, they would not have wanted to be on their own.”

The pair, who lived in Worthing, were put next to each other by staff on the hospitals Covid ward and they held hands during Pat’s final hours.

The Argus:

Nikki said the devoted couple met outside a post office when Pat was 20.

“She knew straight away he was the one,” Nikki said.

The pair married at Broadwater Parish Church in Worthing on April 23, 1949.

Ron was diagnosed with an infection in the heart at age 26, which put an end to his footballing career.

But the couple’s connection to the club remained strong and it helped fundraise for a deposit on a shop in South Farm Road, Worthing, to get the talented striker back into work.

Last year, the club invited Ron to the last game of the season to attend a presentation in his honour of being the oldest surviving player.

A football scarf given to Ron on that day was draped over Pat’s coffin at their double funeral service on Monday.

The Argus:

Ron’s coffin was draped in a White Ensign with a football floral tribute.

The funeral procession passed the Worthing ground in Woodside Road, where people had gathered outside to pay their respects.

Nikki said: “We went past the grounds and everyone was lined up.

“My parents are looking down and would be very proud at how lovely it was.”

Funeral director Ian Hart said: “I have the privilege of always knowing them, they were my granddad’s generation and so they typified everything that was good about this country – they were old school. It was quite poignant that Monday was not only the Queen’s birthday and Pat was a great royalist, but also the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the HMS Acasta, in which Ron's older brother had died.

“It was an honour and a privilege to look after them.”