Tragedy befalls Limestone couple

LIMESTONE, Maine — Preliminary reports indicate that a Limestone woman had a heart attack while trying to save her husband, who was choking; both perished in their Lane Terrace Street home on Sunday.
Limestone Police Chief Stacey Mahan confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that Leon Carroll, 73, and Sandra Carroll, 69, both succumbed before help arrived.
According to Mahan, Sandra called 9-1-1 at 12:25 p.m., informing the dispatcher that her husband was choking on a sandwich. At one point she attempted to do CPR at the instruction of the dispatcher, and Sandra stated that she did not feel well; the dispatcher then lost contact with her.
By the time emergency first responders arrived at 12:40 p.m., the husband and wife of 41 years had died.
Leon’s brother Allen Menard explained on Tuesday that funerary services have not been scheduled as of yet, in order to properly notify all family members.
Menard described that folks have been offering unusual comments about the uniquely tragic circumstances, such as ‘How romantic, they died together,’ and, as a woman at church said, ‘The Lord knew they couldn’t live without each other.’
“And that’s true,” Menard said. “If either had passed away, it would have been devastating on the other. I think that woman was right — the Lord knew they couldn’t live without each other, and took them both together.”
In the past years, Leon provided janitorial services for the town of Limestone and its school, as well as the Loring Commerce Centre.
Menard also commented on how much Leon and Sandra loved living in Limestone — he tried getting them to move closer to Livermore, but the couple simply didn’t want to move. “Jimmy Cote (their landlord) has really gone above and beyond to help them out whenever he could.”
Cote has known the Carrolls for a long while.
“Lee worked for the school part time doing janitorial work; even though he had a disability, he worked really hard to make extra money for his family,” Cote remembered. “(Sandra) was a really friendly person, and she took very good care of him … and even in the end she was there to help him.”