An elderly couple married for 63 years died in a house fire after the grandfather told dispatchers he “wouldn’t leave my wife”.
Kenneth and Phyllis Zerr, both 84, of New Melle, Minnesota, died around 1 a.m. Thursday from a suspected electrical fire at their home in Tall Cedar Court, where they lived for 18 years.
According to the New Melle Fire Protection District, the fire started on the ground floor of the home and eventually worked its way upstairs to the two bedrooms.
The couple had been hiding in the master bedroom and when firefighters arrived the entire top floor began to collapse.
Kenneth had tried to help his wife, who had fallen in the bathroom, out of the house when dispatchers encouraged him to get out as soon as possible, but he refused Phyllis and shortly after they were caught.
“My dad said, ‘I’m not leaving my wife,’ and he stayed with her to the end,” her son Andy told 5 On Your Side.
Kenneth and Phyllis Zerr, both 84, of New Melle, Minnesota, (pictured 2013) died around 1 a.m. Thursday of a suspected electrical fire at their home in Tall Cedar Court, where they lived for 18 years.
According to the New Melle Fire Protection District, the fire started on the ground floor of the home and eventually worked its way upstairs to the two bedrooms. The couple had been hiding in the master bedroom and when firefighters arrived the entire top floor began to collapse
Kenneth had tried to help his wife, who had fallen in the bathroom, out of the house when dispatchers encouraged him to get out as soon as possible, but he refused Phyllis and shortly after they were caught
Kenneth reportedly shoved wet towels under the door and prayed the fire department would come shortly.
By the time firefighters pushed through the thick, black smoke, the couple had already died, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“The house was full of smoke. They couldn’t see. Zero visibility,” Fire Chief Dan Casey told the Post-Dispatch.
Firefighters “felt around the bed, under the bed, on the bed,” but when the floor gave way, they had to leave.”
“The ground started to give way, so they had to back down. You made it just in time,” Casey said.
When emergency responders arrived, they weren’t sure how many people were in the home because their eldest daughter, Brenda, and her husband also lived in the home, and dispatchers couldn’t get much information from Kenneth.
Brenda and her husband were vacationing in Alabama when police contacted them after Kenneth hung up on the switchboard.
She immediately called Andy, who rushed over, but when he got there the firefighters told him they had died of smoke inhalation.
The home of the parents of three children has always been the center of family gatherings, where their children, six grandchildren and a dozen great-grandchildren enjoyed Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas every year.
“My dad said, ‘I’m not going to leave my wife,’ and he stayed with her to the end,” said their son Andy (pictured).
“Everyone wanted to be like them and everyone wanted to be with them. My mom and dad were the salt of the earth,” Andy told 5 On Your Side. “You will be greatly missed. They were a pillar of the church. They were our rocks. They were our foundation. They were our wisdom.’
Kenneth, a retired vice president of IT services at Community Federal Bank, had just celebrated his 84th birthday on Tuesday, and the couple celebrated 63 years of marriage in September.
Phyllis was a retired receptionist at Prairie Farms.
In their retirement, the couple loved to travel and had taken several trips together, Andy told the Post-Dispatch.
“They loved being together. They loved life.”
Andy remembers traveling as a child with his two sisters and parents and exploring the South West for three weeks.
The couple were also devout Catholics and had a strong marriage.
“You wanted your marriage to be like hers. Always there for each other. Fat and thin,” her granddaughter Ashley Kozlowski, 32, said.