An Iowa couple that had been married for 72 years - and who their children said were always together - died one hour apart last week at a hospital as they held hands, according to a report.

The couple – Gordon Yeager, 94, and his wife Norma, 90 - were transported on Friday to an intensive care unit of a hospital in Des Moines after they were involved in a traffic accident.

“They’re very old-fashioned. They believed in marriage til death do you part,” said son Dennis Yeager.

When they were first brought into the intensive care unit they were holding hands and were placed in the same room, according to the couple’s son, Dennis Yeager.

Gordon passed away at 3:38 p.m surrounded by family while holding hands with his wife.

At that point, Gordon had stopped breathing but the heart monitor was still going and Dennis Yeager questioned why.

“It was really strange,” he said. “The nurse checked and said that’s because they were holding hands and it’s going through them. Her heart was beating through him and picking it up.”

“They were still getting her heartbeat through him,” daughter Donna Sheets said.

Exactly one hour later at 4:48pm Norma died too.

At their Monday funeral, the couple held hands in their casket. They will be cremated and their ashes mixed together.