They were together 55 years. They died days apart after COVID-19 diagnosis

A B.C. couple who met atChristmas dinner in1965 found out they both had COVID-19 on Christmas Day in2020.

In the 55 years between thosefateful holidays, John and Helen Eberherrhad three children and five grandchildren, and were active members of their church and community in Prince George.

They died just days apart, unable to see each other or say goodbye while sitting in the same hospital. He was 85, she was 78.

At age 23, Helen moved from Kelowna to Prince George to work at the Royal Bank. John's sisteralso worked there, andinvited Helen to spend the holiday with herfamily, including John, who took an immediateliking to his sister's new co-worker.

"My aunt always said, 'We knew that as soon as your dad met someone he liked enough, it was going to be quick,'" daughter Tracy Glaicar said.

Sure enough, John and Helen were engaged within a week, and married six months later.

A homebody whose wife refused to sit still

Joseph (John)Eberherr was born to homesteaders in Prince George in 1935. His grandparentswound up in the community after taking a wrong turnon their way to Kelownaand decided to stay.

John's father started a small sawmill, and John dropped out of Grade 7to work there. He spent the rest of his career working for mills in the city while everyone else in his family departed for the Okanagan and the Lower Mainland.

"He was a homebody," Glaicar said.

Helen put her career on hold to focus on raisingGlaicarand her two brothers. Not content to sit on the sidelines,she would volunteer and get involved in her kids' lessons, learning to ski and teaching them how to swim.

"She actually drove me crazy," Glaicar said. "She could never just watch."

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Helen particularly loved swimming, and in retirement one of her dreams came true: TheEberherrsbuilt apool in their home and opened it up for swimming lessons for the neighbourhood.

"Hundreds of people must have learned to swim there," Glaicar said.

Among them were theEberherrs'five grandchildren, all of whom were raised in Prince George. John and Helen would often care for their grandchildren, but family visitscame to a stop when the COVID-19 lockdowns began last year.

While John had limited mobility and stayed home,Helenremained active, going for daily walks and keeping in touch with friends and family.

"She wore a mask and sanitized but she just really felt that staying locked up wasn't what she wanted," Glaicar said. "So she would continue to shop and continue to live."

Final days

The family isn't sure how they caught the virus, but on Dec. 22, Helen told Glaicar thatJohn waslosing his appetite. Glaicar convinced her parents to get tested for COVID-19 on Christmas Eve, and they received the positive results the next day.

On Dec. 28, Glaicarcould hear a change in her mother's voiceslurred and disjointed. She told Helen to dial911, hung up and started driving to her parents' home.

Watching from a distance, Glaicar watched first John and then Helen get loaded into ambulances. Her parents insisted they didn't want to be hooked up to ventilators.

Glaicar spoke to her father via video chat one last time before he passed on Jan. 5, and had several phone calls with her mother. While her father had been extremely ill and chances of recovery seemed low, her mother appeared to be in relatively good health until she learned John had died.

"She just sort of stopped after that," Glaicar said. "I think it just became too much."

To hear the story of John and Helen Eberherr, as told by their daughter, tap the link below: