Rochester, N.Y. - If Clee Washington was in the garden, his wife Elizabeth was right by his side.
The same thing in the kitchen. If Elizabeth was cooking, Clee was there helping out.
Their family members say the couple was inseparable. They had strong faith and a strong sense of family.
A big family. They had 12 children and more than 100 grandchildren.
Clee's health was failing. He was 91 and at Monroe Community Hospital.
Elizabeth visited him every single day. She relied on family members to get her there, since she has never driven.
That's where she was headed Monday. Her daughter Lizzie talked to her earlier in the day. She told her mother to take her medicine and to be careful.
She told her mother she would call her later.
But Lizzie never had the chance. Her mother was killed on her way to the nursing home.
A car driven by Eddie Smith, Elizabeth's youngest son, went out of control on South Avenue and hit a tree.
Just as the family was dealing with that tragic news, they got a call that Clee had passed away.
A double blow for this family who worshipped their parents and grandparents.
Daughter Lizzie told us: "They were Christians, who lived the faith...if someone needed help or money, they gave it to them."
Grandaughter Louise Washby says her grandmother knew every one of her grandchildren's names and never showed any favoritism.
She also never judged them. Just loved them a lot.
Just this week Elizabeth confided in her daughter that she couldn't bear to live without her husband. She knew the end was near for Clee and she told Lizzie she hoped she went first.
Lizzie recalled that when she heard the unbearable news that her mother was gone.
She said her mother had gotten her wish, to "go first." But Clee followed her in death just a half hour later.
Lizzie doesn't understand why this happened, but she told us she cannot question this because "God doesn't make mistakes."
She smiles remembering how much her parents loved each other and their family.
That was their life. They were together always, in life and now death.
Patrice Walsh/Reporter
