Couple met and married within a month and stayed together for 65 years... only to be parted after home invader beat wife to death

Nancy Strait, 85, was sexually assaulted and battered to death by burglar
Her husband Bob, 90, suffered a broken jaw and broken ribs in attack
Police have arrested 20-year-old Tyrone Dale David Woodfork

An 85-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and battered to death by a home invader who also shot her 90-year-old husband in the face with a BB gun.

Nancy and Bob Strait, who had celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in December, were discovered by their daughter at their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Both the pensioners were rushed to hospital where Mrs Strait, who was nearly blind, died from her injuries.

Home invasion: Bob and Nancy Strait were both attacked when burglars broke into their home in Tulsa. Mrs Strait died of her injuries

Mr Strait, who served in the 101st Airborne Division in World War II, suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs and severe bleeding. He is in a serious condition in hospital.

Police have arrested 20-year-old Tyrone Dale David Woodfork in connection with the case.

The Straits' distraught family today paid tribute to the pair, who grew up in poverty in rural Oklahoma during the Great Depression.

They met each other on a blind date on Thanksgiving 1946, married a month later and went on to have six children, 18 grandchildren and about 50 great and great-great grandchildren. They had recently welcomed a great-great-great grandchild.

Their daughters Lanora and Andra told Tulsa World that the couple were loving and generous people who would do anything for anyone.

'Dad never talked, and Mama never quit talking,' Lanora said.

'Whatever she did, it came from the heart,' Andra added.

The pair could be found sitting on their porch singing and playing the guitar during warmer summer evenings.

Mr Strait, who had worked for the oil derrick supply company Lee C. Moore before retirement, enjoyed woodwork while his wife loved making quilts and baking.

Suspect: Tyrone Dale David Woodfork, 20, was arrested a day after the attack on complaints of first-degree murder, burglary, assault with a dangerous weapon and two complaints of armed robbery

They had both been struggling with health problems before the attack. Mr Strait had been diagnosed with a terminal kidney illness but had outlived the doctor's prognosis.

'He was living because Mother was alive,' Andra told Tulsa World.

The couple had had food poisoning the week before the attack.

'There is no one else who has been through what he's been through who is still alive,' Lanora said of her father.

'We pray he doesn't remember.'

Tulsa police believe burglars broke into the Straits' home either late Tuesday or early Wednesday last week. They were not found until the Wednesday evening.

The home invaders made off with their Dodge Neon, a television and $200.

Woodfork was later found hiding in a nearby house after a witness spotted the stolen vehicle being driven down the road.

He is being held at Tulsa Jail without bail accused of first-degree murder, burglary, assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of armed robbery.

'This investigation is far from over,' Officer Jason Willingham of the Tulsa police department told Tulsa World. 'We've still got a lot of questions that we still need answered.'

Mrs Strait's funeral will be on Friday. The family has set up a fund the Nancy Strait and Bob Strait Support Trust to help pay for the service and her husband's medical care.

Life together: The couple went on to have six children, 18 grandchildren and about 50 great and great-great grandchildren all after marrying a month after meeting

Attack: One of the couple's daughters discovered her parents unresponsive in their Tulsa home with their car, a television and $200 among the items missing

Replies

Harry Riley March 23, 2012 at 8:57pm

Folks just living and loving........and end up victims of a despicable, barbaric maniac no better than septic sludge.....
Debrajoe Beatty March 23, 2012 at 8:57pm

This is so sad and tragic.
TONY SALAZAR March 23, 2012 at 8:58pm

You think that Obama will visit with the survivor like he did with the parents of the teenager shot in Florida?
- Debrajoe Beatty > TONY SALAZAR March 23, 2012 at 9:00pm
  
  No Obama won't even mention this.
- Karen Marsalis > TONY SALAZAR March 23, 2012 at 11:41pm
  
  No, I don't think so.
Steven G. Elliott March 23, 2012 at 9:01pm

Now this is a race crime.
Marianne Hart March 23, 2012 at 9:01pm

I started to write something and could not. All I could feel is hate for bastards like TYRONE who only takes and never gives. May he rot in hell. I cry for the Straits and their family. I honor them!
- Karen Marsalis > Marianne Hart March 23, 2012 at 11:42pm
  
  oh, but it is not his fault, it our fault, that is what the media and the socialist will be spouting.
Lowell J Mix March 23, 2012 at 9:08pm

Yes, so sad and tragic. I wonder if the victims will get a call from the President expressing his sympathy for what this criminal did? But I waste my time.....
Jerel Bartlett March 23, 2012 at 9:11pm

Will Eric Holder forward the memo....reminding all of America.....this administration does NOT prosecute Blacks....no matter what the crime ! If ever a crime qualified for a HATE crime....with the hate crime against that young white couple in Tennesee being the worse I've heard of. If EVER there is a lapse in law and order.......be prepared.