A couple married more than 70 years passed away within just hours of each other, something their son calls a blessing. They were never apart until this pandemic and, sadly, were not able to spend their final days together.

Gene, who’s full name was Eugene Merrill Deitch, directed 13 episodes of beloved children’s cartoon Tom and Jerry and some from the series Popeye.
“They never saw it in each other’s eyes, the pain of dying,” their son Marc Shindler said of his 92- and 91-year-old parents, Lester and Lillian Shindler. “They went together.”