Couple who were together for 72 years share a coffin

Doting couple who were together for 72 years after falling in love at age 15 share a coffin at joint funeral after dying within hours of one another

• Alan and June King were 15 when they met and were together for seven decades
• Couple, both aged 87 when they died, were put into same coffin holding hands
• Son Alan said it was ‘fitting’ that his inseperable parents were sharing a coffin

A doting couple who enjoyed 72 happy years together before dying within hours of each other shared a coffin at their funeral.

Alan and June King were just 15 when they met at work and fell in love, and they remained smitten for more than seven decades. 

Mrs King died on June 9 this year, aged 87, at Brookfield Nursing Home in Dronfield, Derbyshire.

Her husband died the following day, around 21 hours later, at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, where he was being treated for cancer. He was also 87.

Alan and June King were just 15 when they met at work and fell in love, and they remained smitten for more than seven decades

They were given the send-off at their joint funeral at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium on Thursday, December 8, lying side by side in the same coffin, holding hands as they had spent much of their lives doing.

Their son, Alan King, told Yorkshire Post: ‘Mum and dad were inseparable to the end. 

‘It was really fitting that they were able to share a coffin and hold hands one last time because they’d been together all their lives and were so happy together. 

‘I’d like to say how much they will be missed and how grateful I am for everything they did for me. 

‘After 87 years, for them to die within 21 hours of each other, I couldn’t believe it. The odds must be pretty astronomical.’

He said they lived in Dronfield Woodhouse and met at the printing firm Arnold Biggins and Sons, where they both started working as teenagers. 

They tied the knot in 1959 after the late Alan King had completed his three years of national service in Germany, and they had one child together. 

They lived in the same council flat for 63 years before declining health meant they were briefly separated towards the end of their lives.

Alan remained in the printing industry throughout his working life, while June had a number of jobs, including working at a canteen, an engineering firm and as a housekeeper. 

They were given the send-off at their joint funeral at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium on Thursday, December 8, lying side by side in the same coffin, holding hands as they had spent much of their lives doing

They shared a love of the Derbyshire countryside, enjoying many trips together to Chatsworth House and other spots. 

They have asked for their ashes to be scattered at Shillito Woods, which was one of their favourite places.

Alan was the projectionist at Dronfield Picture House and a keen photographer, once selling a photo to a national newspaper of the tragic accident at Coniston Water in the Lake District which killed Donald Campbell as he tried to break the water speed record. 

He also represented Derbyshire at darts. 

June had severe mastoiditis as a child, which required surgery, and her son said her memory was affected for the rest of her life but she was ‘so funny’ and was always the ‘life and soul of any party’.

Their son, Alan, said he was grateful to Michael Fogg Family Funeral Directors for organising the funeral and suggesting that his parents could lie side by side in the same coffin, which he thought was a lovely touch.

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