[LifeStyle] Couple dies of coronavirus just minutes apart after 66-year marriage

[Sxynix]

 

Bill and Esther Ilnisky spent nearly seven decades together as Christian ministers and missionaries, working in the Caribbean and Middle East before preaching for 40 years in Florida.

They complimented each other — he the bookworm, she outgoing and charismatic. One without the other seemed unthinkable.

So when they died minutes apart of COVID-19 this month at a Palm Beach County hospice, it may have been a hidden blessing, their only child, Sarah Milewski, said — even if it was a devastating double loss for her. Her father was 88, her mom 92. Their 67th wedding anniversary would have been this weekend.

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"It is so precious, so wonderful, such a heartwarming feeling to know they went together," Milewski said, then adding, "I miss them."

Bill Ilnisky grew up in Detroit, deciding at 16 to devote his life to God, Milewski said. He headed to Central Bible College, an Assemblies of God school in Springfield, Missouri. He preached at nearby churches and needed a piano player. Friends suggested Esther Shabaz, a fellow student from Gary, Indiana. They fell in love.

"When my dad proposed, he told her, ‘Esther, I can’t promise you wealth, but I can promise you lots of adventure,'" Milewski said. "She had a lot, a lot of adventure."

After graduation and their wedding, Bill Ilnisky opened churches in the Midwest. In the late-1950s, the Ilniskys took congregants to Jamaica for a mission, fell in love with the island, and stayed on to run a church in Montego Bay for a decade.

This undated photo provided by Sarah Milewski shows Bill and Esther Ilnisky, who died minutes apart from COVID-19 on March 1, 2021, at a Palm Beach County hospice.
This undated photo provided by Sarah Milewski shows Bill and Esther Ilnisky, who died minutes apart from COVID-19 on March 1, 2021, at a Palm Beach County hospice. (Sarah Milewski via AP)

It was during that time they adopted Milewski, then 2, from a Miami foster home. In 1969, the family moved from Jamaica to Lebanon, where Bill Ilnisky ministered to college students and taught. His wife started an outreach center and had a Christian rock band.

"At that time, Lebanon was an amazing country — gorgeous," Milewski said.