A family from Bettendorf is dealing with a devastating double loss after both a husband and wife died from COVID-19 complications within just minutes of one another. 

On November 6 of last year, Ian Washam’s life changed forever after his grandparents Betty and Robert Washam lost their battle with the virus on the same day. 

“My grandpa was in the hospital. My grandma was in home hospice,” he said. “She had passed. While my uncle who was taking care of my grandma was calling the hospital to let [my grandfather] know, the hospital was calling my grandma’s phone.” 

After 62 years of marriage, Washam said their bond was unbreakable. 

“They weren’t even in the same place, but they passed away at almost the same time,” Washam said. 

Knowing they would not have to live without each other offered him some comfort, he said. 

“To know that personally, neither of them had to go without one another, does make me feel better about it. And it’s a positive that I look at,” he said. 

He said it has still been tough losing them at the same time, especially during the pandemic, when he wasn’t able to visit them during their last days to keep them safe. He said they were truly the pillars of their family.

“It was hard to know that there isn’t going to be any more memories, or any more conversations. [From] fishing to parties to family gatherings, it was all a good time with them.” 

Washam remembers his grandparents as loving, adventurous, and hardworking. They were also big Bettendorf sports fans and supported the teams regularly at games. Robert was a veteran, and Betty loved to work in her garden. 

And after they passed, Washam took to Facebook, to not only share the bad news, but to challenge people to take the pandemic seriously. 

“You don’t know who it is going to touch or who you get it from. But the fact that people are trying to just go around like it’s no big deal is very frustrating,” he said. 

But Washam wants those who have lost someone to know they are not alone. 

“I don’t want people to forget that there is light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.