A much-loved Maryland couple who had been married for 70 years have died holding hands in their hospital beds after being taken off life support following a horrific car crash.
Kenneth and Marilyn Oland, high school sweethearts who married in July 1955, died side-by-side on Monday in a Baltimore hospital, six days after another car slammed into the side of their vehicle on Route 15 near their home in Thurmont, according to their obituary and reports. Kenneth, 90, was driving when the crash happened. He and Marilyn, 88, were rushed to hospital and placed on life support after suffering complications from the collision.
Their friend Nancy Echard said their bond was so strong that one couldn’t have survived without the other. “I don’t think one could’ve lasted without the other,” she told Fox 5.
At the Thurmont Senior Center, where the couple were regulars who played bingo twice a month, staff said they had eaten lunch there and left about 15 minutes before the crash. The centre later shared a tribute describing the Olads — parents of three, grandparents of five and great-grandparents of six — as pillars of the community who were rarely seen apart.
“To those of us here at the Senior Center, they were simply quite the pair,” the post said. “You rarely saw one without the other, and that was no accident, they were two people who genuinely chose each other, every single day. In the end, even in their passing, they were not apart for long. They were a living reminder of what lasting love looks like, and we were blessed to witness it.”
According to their obituary, the couple were devoted churchgoers who regularly brought flowers to friends in nursing homes. They were known for cherishing their friends and their large family, and for bringing everyone together for holidays, birthdays and celebrations. Marilyn spent 25 years working in chiropractic care before retiring in 2023, while Kenneth worked in marketing.
Their family said they took comfort in knowing Kenneth and Marilyn were together at the end, and hope the legacy of their marriage will live on. Their granddaughter Kristie Hopkins said, “If there’s one thing we could share about my grandparents, it’s not only the 70 years they’ve had together and that they chose to be together every day and chose to go away together and leave this earth together.” She added, “Their legacy is just how to be humans – be humble and kind and graceful to others and help strangers in need.”
