Tennessee Couple Dies Hours Apart After 70 Years of Marriage
LEBANON, Tenn. – A Tennessee couple who celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last fall died within hours of each other last week, ending a love affair that began in the mid-1950s.
John Ridley Trice, 93, of Lebanon, died on April 2 at his home. He was followed in death several hours later by his wife, Alice Conatser Moss Trice, 94, also of Lebanon.
John passed away at 1 p.m., and Alice nine hours later. They died in the home they had shared for 60 years.
The couple, who founded the Wilson County Fair in 1979, were lifelong residents of the Middle Tennessee county, located east of downtown Nashville.
And inseparable.
“You never said one name and didn’t think of the other,” their daughter, Angela Greene, told WSMV. “Truly one of them would not have wanted to live without the other and they didn’t have to.”
John Trice was born in Lebanon, while Alice grew up in the Nashville suburb of Mt. Juliet.
“They actually met at a Green Hill's club at a square dance,” Greene told the television station.
The relationship blossomed, fittingly, as Alice was a certified master gardener, according to her obituary.
“She had a true gift for gardening and was widely respected for her talent,” her obituary read, noting the fair created an award in her honor.
According to online marriage records in Wilson County, Tennessee, the couple tied the knot on Nov. 11, 1955.
John served as the first president of the fair.
“It was his love,” Greene told WSMV. “I mean everything about this county. He truly wanted to make it a better place and I believe they both left it better than they found it.”
The fair honored John by naming a road after him – John R. Trice Avenue. His road sign stands at the front of the fairgrounds.
“They were a great example of a couple that was heavily involved in their community and gave back in every way possible,” Randall Clemons, the fair's current president, told WSMV.
John Trice also served on various boards and helped organize local banks. The couple raised two children, traveled extensively, and will be laid to rest together at the Wilson County Memorial Gardens.
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