Story highlights The husband had been in hospice. The wife was in a nursing home next door.

(CNN) Together for 74 years, even death couldn't keep Leonard Cherry and his wife Hazel apart.

The Cherrys were high school sweethearts, married in January 1942 in Muldoon, Texas. Last week they died, just a few hours apart. Their only grandson, Craig Cherry, said their love was the strongest love that he had ever seen.

"The two were always smiling and always deeply in love," Cherry told CNN affiliate KWTX

Although family members are mourning their loss, the couple's 72-year-old son, David Cherry, is grateful that his mother and father can be together forever.

"I feel blessed that Daddy's suffering is over, and I feel blessed that Mom is with him and that she didn't have to live alone."

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