He was a by-the-book, buttoned-up conservative whose opinions could be quick and blunt. She was a free-thinking, authority-snubbing liberal who would draw stories out in meandering conversation.

In the pain of broken marriages, Edward and Joan Porco found new life in one other, however mismatched they might seem.

And as a pandemic consumed the world, they both fell victim to it.

Ed, who was 89, and Joan, who was 90, died four days apart on Long Island, two of thousands claimed by the coronavirus.