They had a rare love, refusing to part in their last days together. He suffered from asbestosis, and she lost her ability to speak as Alzheimer’s progressed. Still, they remained in their Winslow Township home, with his hospice bed next to hers. When Michael Simonetti asked for his wife, relatives put Josephine in a wheelchair, her hand in his.

Hours later, on Friday, March 31, Mr. Simonetti, 83, died. That day, Josephine broke her silence, calling for her husband. At dinner, she did not smile as she normally did when Mr. Simonetti was brought to the table and told her, “I love you.” Instead, tears rolled down her face, said the couple’s daughter, Barbara Elliott.