Shirley and Stanley Laub lived for their families and for each other.
Married for 38 years, the couple raised five children in a Las Vegas home that was frequented by the friends of the Laub kids. Some of those visitors were impressed that the Laub kids had two parents who were together so often and that the Laubs did so many activities together as a family.
It seemed only fitting, though nonetheless tragic, that the couple died just three days apart -- Stanley last Wednesday at age 66 and Shirley on Saturday at age 62.
They spent last Tuesday night in side-by-side beds at The Heights of Summerlin nursing home after their family convinced officials at Desert Springs Hospital, where she was recovering, and Sunrise Hospital, where he was comatose, to transfer them so they could be together.
"Stanley was taken off life support on (June 13) just after 5 p.m.," said Shirley's sister Beverly Newby of Whitewater, Colo. "There is only one reason he lived until Wednesday morning, and that was that somewhere deep in his mind he knew he would be with Shirley one last time.
"This whole thing is so bizarre. It had to end the way it did. I have accepted that."
Other family members agreed that fate played a vital role in the proximity of their deaths.
"He was wanting to be with her," said Cindy Conn, a daughter of the Laubs who lives in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. "His vital signs were low but when we told him he was going to visit momma, his vital signs improved tremendously. I know, deep down, he heard us."
The sequence of events that brought about the couple's deaths began in March 2003, when Shirley, a longtime civilian employee in the Metro Police traffic division, was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer. She retired last year because of her illness.
Four years earlier, hearing problems had forced Stan to retire from the Union Pacific Railroad, where he had spent about 30 years in a variety of jobs, including brakeman, traveling car man, shipping yard worker and investigator of derailments.
While Shirley's cancer was incurable, she had been doing well this year and had been told by doctors she still had a good year or more left to live, her family said.
In late March, Stan was riding an all-terrain vehicle in the desert with family members and had what at first appeared to be a minor accident. He apparently suffered just a few scrapes. He hit his head, but seemed OK.
In late May, however, after complaining of a headache, he took a nap on his couch from which he never awakened. He underwent surgery for an aneurysm, but the damage was too great to repair, his family said.
While en route to visit Stanley in the hospital on June 10, Shirley was a passenger in a car driven by another one of the couple's daughters, Kathy Laub of Las Vegas, when another car ran a red light at the corner of Burnham Avenue and Flamingo Road and collided with their vehicle, Metro Police said.
"Kathy suffered minor injuries, but Shirley's injuries were serious and she was transported to Desert Springs Hospital," said Metro Sgt. Tracy McDonald of the traffic division, who was also a friend and former co-worker of Laub.
The driver of the other vehicle, Victor Senn, 34, of Henderson, was charged with driving while intoxicated, McDonald said.
The force of the collision caused Shirley's seat belt to sever her cancer-weakened liver, her family said.
McDonald remembered Shirley as "a very pleasant person." He recalled that one of her duties with Metro was counting traffic citations and preparing them for the county and city courts. "She also collected statistics for law enforcement purposes," he said.
Over the weekend, Shirley Laub became a statistic -- the 82nd traffic fatality of the year, 20 more than at this time last year, in Metro's jurisdiction, police said.
Phillip Laub, one of the Laubs' sons and a Las Vegas resident, said prior to his mother's collision, when it became apparent his father would not survive his injuries, he became deeply concerned about how Shirley was going to get along without his dad.
"As I saw mom go about, I could see she was really concerned about dad," he said. "I prayed to God to help my mother not worry so much about losing dad. I guess God heard me. I also know dad would not have wanted to survive if mom did not make it."
After being told her condition was grave, Shirley Laub last week met with her longtime friend, Bishop Tom Wilson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"I am not afraid to die," she told her spiritual adviser, her family said. "I am only sad I will not see my children anymore. And I want to see my husband one last time."
As family members made the decision to take Stanley off his life support system, they began to make preparations to bring the couple -- and the family -- together for the final days.
"The decision to do that was easy because they were both dying and we simply couldn't be in both places at the same time to be with them," Conn said. "Mom arrived at The Heights of Summerlin on the 13th and dad on the 14th."
Family members said that while neither Shirley nor Stanley could speak because of their conditions, Shirley smiled as Stan was placed in the bed beside her.
Conn said she believes "they communicated with their minds. They did not need to speak. It was all in God's hands now."
Family members stood beside both beds in the double occupancy hospital suite that had been transformed into some semblance of a residential bedroom. Three vases full of flowers gave a bright, cheery atmosphere to the otherwise solemn moment. A shroud of peace fell over the family, Conn said, noting, "I could tell mom was happy. She had closure."
Absent a single catastrophic incident such as a car wreck or plane crash, examples of husbands and wives dying in close proximity to each other under different and unrelated circumstances are rare but not unheard of.
In July 2002, Betty Lynch, 83, and Jerry Lynch, 90, died within seven days of each other of natural causes at different Las Vegas hospitals after 51 years of marriage. Last October, Sue and Hyman Gold died one hour and 45 minutes apart at different Las Vegas hospitals of natural causes. He was 90. She was 70.
Stanley Laub was born May 7, 1939, in St. George, Utah, and came to Southern Nevada with his family when he was an infant. He graduated from Basic High. He served in the Navy as a gunner's mate and later worked as a delivery man and mechanic before joining the railroad. His hobbies included prospecting and panning for gold.
Shirley Laub was born in Abilene, Texas, on March 12, 1943, and came to Las Vegas from Colorado with her family when she was 13. She graduated from Rancho High, where she sang in the choir. She was a switchboard operator before joining the North Las Vegas Police Department as a dispatcher in 1981. In May 1985, she went to work for Metro.
While those were their vocations, the Laubs' primary job was raising their family in a loving and nurturing atmosphere.
"Our folks were the kind of people that our friends wished they had as parents," Phil Laub recalled. "They admired that we went on family outings and did so many things together.
"Some years we vacationed in Hawaii or went to see the Redwood trees in California. In years when we did not have a lot of money, mom and dad took us on picnics for our vacation. The important thing is that we did everything together."
In addition to their two daughters, son and Shirley's sister, the Laubs are survived by another son, Steve Laub of Henderson; another daughter, Barbara Pickering of Eugene, Ore.; 17 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Also, Stan is survived by a sister, Patricia Stevens of Caliente. Also, Shirley is survived by a brother Jerry Warren of Harrison, Ariz; and her 83-year-old mother Christine Warren, of Whitewater, Colo.
A service for both will be 11 a.m. Friday at the LDS Christy & Kell Chapel. Visitations will be for one hour prior to the service at the chapel. A private graveside service will be Monday at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City. Palm Mortuary-Henderson is handling the arrangements.
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