( CNN ) -- They met in elementary school , began a romance during World War II and married not long afterward . They had a lifelong devotion to each other as husband and wife that lasted nearly 66 years -- and one day earlier this month they died , just 11 hours apart . Their children call it their `` final act of love . '' Harold Knapke , 91 , and his wife , Ruth , 89 , died August 11 at the Versailles Health Care Center nursing home in Russia , Ohio , spokeswoman Teresa Pohlmon said . Their children said they were nine days short of their 66th wedding anniversary . `` It 's consoling to us that they went together , '' said their daughter , Margaret Knapke . `` On one hand it 's difficult to lose both parents at once when you did n't see it coming ... but it 's very consoling that they got to go together . '' According to Margaret , her father 's health had been deteriorating more quickly than her mother 's for about a year . `` We would ask , 'Why is he still here ? ' '' Margaret said . `` And the answer was that he was here for Mom . '' `` He loved her very dearly . He was extremely loyal . He wanted to be here with her , '' she added . `` He would sleep all day toward the end but when he 'd wake the first thing he 'd ask is , 'Where 's your mother ? How 's your mother ? ' '' Decades of love sound like this . Margaret said Ruth contracted a rare infection shortly before her death and it was clear she was not going to recover . When Margaret and her siblings told her father the news , she recalled , he took it calmly but they saw a `` shift '' in him . Just a few days later , Margaret and one of her sisters noticed that their father appeared to be very ill , she said . `` My sister said , 'It 's almost like he 's trying to catch up to Mom . ' '' Three days later , Harold died , at 7:30 a.m. `` I think he realized what was happening and wanted to pave the way for her , '' the couple 's son , Ted Knapke , said . After their father died , the Knapke children surrounded their mother -- who was not lucid -- and told her , `` Dad 's up there waiting . They got the card game going and it 's time you got up there . Do n't stick around for us , '' Ted Knapke said . Ruth Knapke died that night , at 6:30 p.m. `` I think certainly when two people are that close for 66 years you become pretty in sync mentally . So regardless of their state I think they realized it was time , '' Ted Knapke said . Ruth and Harold Knapke met when they were students at the same elementary school in Ohio but were separated when Harold 's family moved several towns away , according to Carol Romie , another daughter of the Knapkes . `` Dad was a year ahead of Mom and I remember Mom would tell us , ' I had a crush on your dad when I was in the third grade , ' '' Margaret Knapke said . It was n't until Harold was serving in World War II and stationed in Germany that their relationship began . Ruth 's brother-in-law Steve , who was also serving , overheard that Harold was from the same county in Ohio as Ruth and suggested that Harold write to her . Their relationship grew from there , according to their daughter Ginny Reindl . `` Mom knew who he was right away , '' Margaret Knapke said of her mother 's reaction to the letter . The two continued to write each other until Harold returned from the war in 1945 . The couple married two years later , on August 20 , 1947 , and had six children together : Carol , Pat , Margaret , Ginny , Ted and Tim . Harold worked in Ohio 's Fort Recovery school system as a principal , teacher and coach and Ruth became a school secretary . `` I guess to me , the most important part of the story was their dedication to each other -- loyal right to the end , '' Romie said . `` Supportive and protective of each other , and that was the beautiful part . They worked at being married for 65 years . It did n't just happen . They went into it with the idea that this was forever , and it was . They made it that way . '' The two were laid to rest together in a joint funeral . `` Mom and Dad were ordinary people , '' Reindl said . `` I guess if people can learn from our story it 's that there is love that lasts , and that 's a good thing . ''
Harold and Ruth Knapke were married for nearly 66 years . They died within 11 hours of each other earlier this month . The couple had been together since they met in high school, when he was a freshman at the University of Minnesota.