A husband and wife from Sanger were laid to rest Tuesday. They were married for nearly 70 years and died within hours of one another.
She was the strength behind her husband. And he was a World War Two Pearl Harbor survivor.
A 21 gun salute for a Pearl Harbor survivor and his wife in Sanger.
A couple who spent their lives together. Buried on the same day.
The love story of Roy and Juanita Molder began shortly after Pearl Harbor.
Roy was in the Navy, stationed on board the USS Rigel.
Roy was active in the local Pearl Harbor survivors group.
CBS47 interviewed Roy in 2007 and 2010. He told my former colleague Paul Loeffler how he enjoyed sharing his experience on that historic day with kids in the valley.
“Kids really are hungry to know these things. I've been to a couple high schools and talked to them and you couldn't ask for a better audience,” Roy told us in 2007.
Roy and Juanita would have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary this August.
They spent their lives together.
And passed away just hours apart.
Roy died last Saturday at age 89.
Juanita died the next day. She was 88.
“They were very fun people very fun people and I think that's what made their relationship work for so long,” said Irma Hurtado who helped care for the couple the last four years.
“They had a great respect for each other, the greatest love I have ever seen in each other,” Hurtado said. “He called her ‘Bright Eyes’ because when they met that's the first thing he told her, ‘Bright Eyes.’”
Friends and family shared their memories of Roy and Juanita Tuesday morning.
Members of the Sanger NJROTC stood by the grave site as Roy and Juanita's coffins were carried to their final resting place.
Irma's daughter, Angela, is one of the cadets.
“I know he was proud of me too. Because he would talk to strangers he would just say that's my girl that's my girl I have a cadet at home,” said Angela Lopez.
Roy was buried with full military honors, finishing his commitment to his country.
Husband and wife fulfilling their commitment to one another, to be together for eternity.
Remembrances for Roy and Juanita Molder can be made to Sanger High School’s Navy Junior ROTC program or the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation.
