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\u201cTil death do \u2018em part. That\u2019s just it. I mean, they literally couldn\u2019t live without each other,\u201d neighbor Haley English said.<\/p>\nMOUNT VERNON, Texas (KLTV) – After spending more than seven decades together, an East Texas couple died within hours of each other due to natural causes.<\/p>\n
Carol and Joanne Van Zandt of Mount Vernon were married for 73 years.<\/p>\n
Family members said that though losing them both on the same day pains them, they\u2019re at peace knowing neither Carol nor Joanne had to grieve the loss of one another.<\/p>\n
\u201cTil death do \u2018em part. That\u2019s just it. I mean, they literally couldn\u2019t live without each other,\u201d neighbor Haley English said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe beauty of their story overshadows any sadness,\u201d Toni Van Zandt, daughter of Carol and Joanne, said.<\/p>\n
After Carol died earlier this week, his wife Joanne passed away less than 12 hours later.<\/p>\n
\u201cI prayed all day that day: Please take her today,\u201d Tina Dilday, daughter of Carol and Joanne, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeaving one behind would\u2019ve been excruciatingly painful,\u201d Van Zandt said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody had to grieve the other, they don\u2019t have to go through that grieving,\u201d Dilday said.<\/p>\n
The family said the morning Carol died, Joanne, who had been unresponsive, seemed to feel his absence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were tears! That\u2019s the first time she had shown any emotion since she\u2019d been in the hospital bed,\u201d Van Zandt said.<\/p>\n
Married in 1953, Carol and Joanne went on to have three children, then earning the names Papa Carol and Momma Jo with five grandchildren, eleven great-grandkids and five great-great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no safer place than being snuggled up with Momma Jo,\u201d grandson Leonard Heath Ray said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMother was the feisty one always; dad was as calm as that water,\u201d Van Zandt said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPop was everything. He was superman,\u201d Ray said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hero,\u201d Dilday said.<\/p>\n
The family said the duo\u2019s partnership was the key to their bond.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always wanted to be like them. I wish I could be half,\u201d Dilday said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did everything together,\u201d Ray said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything,\u201d Dilday said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were a team in that way,\u201d Van Zandt said.<\/p>\n
Neighbors of the Van Zandts say after nearly three-quarters of a century together, their hearts grew intertwined.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe would always have her hand on him; they were very loving,\u201d Tom Dorman, neighbor of the Van Zandts for 20 years said. \u201cIt was just a love story. Something somebody should write a book about. It\u2019s something you don\u2019t see anymore these days. People being together for that long.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTil death do \u2018em part. That\u2019s just it. I mean, they literally couldn\u2019t live without each other,\u201d neighbor Haley English said.<\/p>\n
Papa Carol and Momma Jo\u2019s relationship leaves behind not only an example, but also a way of life:<\/p>\n
\u201cLove one another as much as they did. Because you got to see it, and laugh and smile, and be happy that you\u2019re there together every day. They loved each other wholeheartedly, with all their being,\u201d Ray said.<\/p>\n
Funeral services for the Van Zandts are set for Thursday at 2 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 KLTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MOUNT VERNON, Texas (KLTV) – After spending more than seven decades together, an East Texas couple died within…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[147379,147378,27,29,28,147377],"class_list":["post-423687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-73-year-marriage","tag-carol-and-joann-van-zandt","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-van-zandt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}