"You can go too:" Husband and wife, married 63 years, pass away within 20 minutes of one another

PLATTE, South Dakota -- Friends and family members are remembering a South Dakota couple who passed away just 20 minutes apart.

Henry and Jeanette De Lange were married for 63 years. Their faith was strong until the very end.

After they married in 1953, the journey of life took Henry and Jeanette De Lange to Platte, South Dakota. He was a Korean War veteran and she was a musician and loving mother to their five children.

On Sunday, July 31st, their children got a call from the Platte Care Center.

"They said 'both your mom and dad aren't doing very well at all.' Highly recommended that we get there as soon as we could," Lee De Lange said.

Jeanette, 87 years old, suffered from Alzheimer's disease and had been in a nursing home since 2011.

"Dad visited mom once every day, twice every day. A lot of times three times every day. It was just very sweet. Wednesday, Thursday, she had stopped eating and stopped drinking. So she was dehydrating," Lee De Lange said.

Henry, 86 years old, was battling prostate cancer.

"The VA was doing as much as they could for him until about seven or eight weeks ago. They said there really isn't more we could do," Lee De Lange said.

After some recent bad falls, Henry's condition got worse.

"He said 'I need to go to the nursing home.' He got checked into the hospital until they could get a room. They put mom and dad in the same room which was very sweet," Lee De Lange said.

Henry and Jeanette were back together, and on Sunday, July 31st, two of their five children were with them -- knowing there wasn't much time left.

"He said 'your dad's pulse is worse. I wonder if he'll go first.' About five minutes later, the aide came in and said 'I think your mom is going to go very soon.' So it was about five after 5:00 at that time," Lee De Lange said.

Not long after, at 5:10 p.m., De Lange's mom died.

"We read Psalm 103, which the pastor had read in the afternoon to her. We didn't quite get done with it. She passed away very, very peacefully. My brother Keith said to my dad, he said 'Dad, Mom's gone to heaven. You don't have to fight anymore. If you want to go too, you can.' For the first time, in the afternoon, he kind of opened up his eyes, and he looked very intently over where mom was. And then he closed his eyes back down and he just laid back down. And about five or 10 minutes after that, (he passed)," Lee De Lange said.

The clock read 5:30 p.m. when Henry De Lange went to heaven -- 20 minutes after his beloved wife.

"It's one of those things that you don't pray for because it almost seems mean -- but you couldn't ask for anything more beautiful," Lee De Lange said.

It doesn't end there.

The clock on the wall told another story.

"I turned around and looked at the clock on the wall, and it said 5:30. And I said, 'Well that's odd.' I looked at my watch on my wrist, it said five to six. It stopped at 5:30, the exact time that he passed away," Lee De Lange said.

It's something the children can't explain.

"Definitely a sign from God that that was the right time," Lee De Lange said.

It's left the De Lange children some peace, after losing both parents on the same day.

"Mom and dad were Christians. They loved Christ. They wanted so badly to show their love for Christ that they loved one another. It's a natural what they do. For them to be able to be a witness in life, and honestly in death also. That's cool. Really cool," De Lange said.