Bud and Ginny Schofield, 92 and 90, die nine days apart after a 69-year love story

Bud and Ginny Schofield married in their early twenties and were devoted to each other for decades. Earlier this month, their love story came to an end when, nine days apart, they died.

Bud, 92, died of Alzheimer’s disease on Feb. 1 and Ginny, 90, died of a stroke on Feb. 10, both at Garden Spot Village in New Holland, the senior facility they had carefully chosen because it allowed them to be together.

“They were loving and caring of one another,” said Lynne Eckman, pastoral care administrative assistant at Wayne Presbyterian Church, where the Schofields were active for many years. Eckman had known the couple for 23 years.

“Each had responsibilities, and they would go off and do those things and then come back together,” Eckman said. “They were not joined at the hip, but you just knew that they loved and respected one another.”

What would become a 69-year love story started with their parallel schooling.

Sevill Schofield Jr., or Bud, graduated from William Penn Charter School and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi.

Virginia Clark Schofield, or Ginny, graduated from Lower Merion High School and the University of Pennsylvania, where she pledged Kappa Alpha Theta.

He was the information systems manager for James Lees & Sons Co., later the Lees Carpet division of Burlington Industries, Inc. His schooling was interrupted toward the end of World War II when he served in Guam as a hospital corpsman in the Navy Reserve.

After they married in 1949, she taught kindergarten in the Lower Merion School District in the early 1950s. When the couple started a family, she became a full-time mother and homemaker. They adopted their three children from The Cradle in Evanston, Ill.

The two met through a friend at Penn, said their daughter Susan S. Clark.

Both were members of the Wayne Presbyterian Church, where he was a deacon, elder, choir member, and clerk of session, or lay leader within the church. She was a deacon and member of the chancel committee.

When Eckman and her husband joined the church in 1995, the Schofields were among the first to welcome them. The Schofields were an example of what a married couple should be, Eckman said.

“We kind of copied what they did,” said Eckman. “There are not that many married people today that have longevity in the relationship. I don’t know of anyone that could have said anything derogatory about them. They were just nice, nice people.”

Before moving to the Garden Spot Village in 2012, Mr. Schofield volunteered at Bryn Mawr Hospital, and sang with the Bryn Mawr Mainliners Barbershop Chorus and the Wayne Oratorio Society. He was a member of the Upper Main Line YMCA, where he swam laps daily.

He was also a member and president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Association for Systems Management.

Before making the 2012 move, Mrs. Schofield volunteered for and served on the board of Main Line Meals on Wheels. She enjoyed solving crossword puzzles and had a gift for arranging flowers and greens, as well as gardening.

When the Schofields learned of several single women in the community who needed help as they aged, the couple assisted with trips to the doctor and grocery store, their daughter said.

In addition to their daughter Susan, the Schofields are survived by children Andrew G. Schofield and Amy S. Smith; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a nephew.

A memorial service for both will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 13, at Wayne Presbyterian Church, 125 E. Lancaster Ave, Wayne, Pa. 19087. Burial will be private.

Donations may be made to The Cradle, 2049 Ridge Ave., Evanston, Ill. 60201, or to the church at the address above.