Beloved Singer's Wife Dies of COVID-19

Engelbert Humperdinck's wife of 56 years, Patricia Healey, was 85
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 8, 2021 1:03 AM CST
Engelbert Humperdinck's Wife Dies of COVID-19
In this file photo singer Engelbert Humperdinck is shown during a performance at Westchester County Center, Sept. 1972.   (AP Photo, file)

Patricia Healey, the British actress and wife for 56 years to singer Engelbert Humperdinck, died Thursday of COVID-19. Humperdinck shared on Jan. 26 that he, his wife, one of their sons, and two of their caregivers had tested positive for the coronavirus, USA Today reports. He asked fans for prayers particularly for his "darling wife," whom he calls Popea, and then on Friday delivered the sad news. "The last rites were given just before our usual prayers at the 8pm hour, by our nephew, Father Paul," he wrote. "We were so grateful to have him gently lead Popea through this last chapter, with a familiar voice and such love. She was surrounded by our children, Louise, Jason, Brad, with Scott on FaceTime. Her longtime caregivers lovingly helped make her transition easier on us all."

Healey, 85, had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for more than a decade. "Her earthly limitations no longer hold her down as she is freely running the glorious gardens of Heaven, reunited with so many loved ones," Humperdinck wrote. Deadline reports that Healey had a successful acting career in the UK, working consistently during the 1960s and 1970s. Her films included The White Bus and Wuthering Heights, and she last appeared in a 1994 television miniseries, Middlemarch. (More coronavirus stories.)

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