Patricia Dorsey, wife of legendary Ten Guitars crooner Engelbert Humperdinck, has died of Covid-19.
She had been suffering from Alzheimers disease for 13 years.
On January 27, Humperdinck, 84, announced on Twitter that he and Dorsey had tested positive for coronavirus, saying: After nearly a year of an abundance of caution and care, Covid has caught up with us and found a way into our home.
Engelbert Humperdinck with his wife of more than 50 years, Patricia, who has died of Covid-19
At the time, Humperdinck said his biggest ask was for his wife, who he referred to by her nickname Popea.
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She has been through so much and does whatever it takes, he tweeted. She is an unbelievable woman of strength.
Last night Humperdinck used the same platform to announce Dorsey was in her final hours, saying a priest had delivered last rites at their Los Angeles home.
Soon after, he tweeted: Our family is heartbroken over the loss of my darling wife. Last night, she slipped softly away, as if by Gods clockwork.
The couples four children were with her, he added, three in person and one on FaceTime.
Patricias battle with Alzheimers was brave from the very beginning, he said in another tweet. She never resisted as we tried to leave no stone unturned.
We love you beyond words, forever and always. It is slipping now into the minutes of a full day without you. Goodnight my baby.
Engelbert, centre, and Patricia, second from right, with three of their four children, l-r Bradley, Louise and Scott Dorsey.
The couple married in 1964, three years before Humperdinck born Arnold George Dorsey first found international popularity with his version of Release Me.
The B-side to that single, Ten Guitars, became a surprise hit in New Zealand and is now considered a national folk song.
Speaking to Stuff in 2019, Humperdinck said he loved playing in New Zealand because Ten Guitars was like the national anthem.
Humperdinck had a string of further hits throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and with his international fame came so many paternity lawsuits that Patricia once told an interviewer she could use them to paper a bedroom.
The marriage lasted, however, and the couple had four children of their own: Scott, Jason, Louise, and Bradley.
At the time of Patricias death she and Humperdinck had been married for 56 years.
