BARRIE -- For nearly 60 years, Lyle and Elizabeth Fox were joined at the hip.

They both died of COVID-19 just days apart.

The Orillia, Ont., couple tied the knot in 1962 and had two children.

They were known as "Foxy and Our Lady of Elizabeth," says their daughter Jennifer Thorne. "Just a loving couple."

Elizabeth died on Wednesday, March 26, after contracting COVID-19. She was the region's third death from the virus.

Elizabeth Fox is pictured in this undated photo. (Supplied)

Friends offered Lyle their condolences, calling to check on his well-being following her death.

"He sounded sick," says Dick Sleep, a longtime friend.

Lyle died just 72 hours after his wife, on Saturday, March 28.

"This is what makes it so damned hard because the guy is gone, and you just didn't expect it," Sleep says.

"I'm absolutely convinced that he just made up his mind that it's time to go. 'Liz is ahead of me, and I am going.' It's as simple as that," says Sleep.

Elizabeth and Lyle Fox are seen in this undated picture. (Supplied)

"He was just an all-around great person, the whole family, Liz and Lyle were just great people to be around," says Councillor Ralph Cipolla, who knew the couple through their church.

According to friends, the couple were volunteers, often giving their time to help the less fortunate.

Their daughter Jennifer, who lives in the Ottawa area, is left mourning the loss of both of her parents.

She says the family home in Orillia is currently quarantined, and efforts to contact her mother's cousins and relatives in the Toronto area have been strenuous.

She is appealing for descendants of William Todd and Ethel Treacy (Elizabeth's parents) to reach out to the family on social media.

An obituary posted online states there will be no funeral for the couple.

The family is asking anyone who would like to donate in honour of Lyle and Elizabeth Fox, to give to the Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital Foundation or Mariposa House Hospice.