Couple married since 1960 commit suicide because they couldn't live without eachother

A Juilliard-trained singer and composer and her photographer husband apparently committed suicide inside their Upper West Side apartment Sunday afternoon, police said.

Joyce Hope Suskind and Olaf Ringdahl, 88 and 86, had plastic bags over their heads when longtime friend Stephen Collins found them inside their apartment on W. 110th St. near Broadway at about 2 p.m.

“They always said they wanted to go together. They always wanted to exit together,” Collins said, unable to hold back his tears as he described the somber discovery. “They had been saying that for years, at least 30 years. I was worried, because we speak every day. I called and got no answer. I came to check on them and found them. It was devastating.”

Both left suicide notes, cops said. Police are still trying to determine if they took any medications or drugs to ease their death, sources said.

She was suffering from degenerative heart problems, police said.

“She was having some health problems for a long time. She was having muscle regeneration and circulation problems. She couldn't go out by herself anymore."

Collins said the two started dating in 1958 and married in 1960. They never had children, he said.

They never separated after their first date,” he recalled. “They had a very loving relationship. She'd say, I don't want to live without him.”

NY Daily News