Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 3, 1993                   TAG: 9311030211
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

COUPLE FOUND DEAD

And when she died Monday after a long illness, he decided he could not live without her.

Salem police found the couple's bodies in their Goodwin Avenue home Monday evening. He was 60; she was 66.

Bobby Harless had shot himself in the chest with a small-caliber handgun, police said. Geraldine Harless' death appeared to be from natural causes, but authorities have asked the medical examiner's office to perform an autopsy to be certain, a police spokesman said.

Bobby Harless left a note, cluing authorities to his despondency.

"He stated that he was depressed, and life without [his wife] wouldn't be worth living," the spokesman said. "It really seemed to be a sad situation."

Salem police received a call Monday evening from a family member who had been unable to reach the Harlesses by phone. The family member asked police to check on the couple.

Lois Saul, a neighbor, said the couple had lived across the street from her for more than 10 years. Geraldine Harless, a retired secretary who had worked for Virginia Tech and the state police, had been ill for most of those years, Saul said.

"They stayed pretty much to themselves because of her illness," she said. "They were very fine, devoted people."

Another neighbor said Geraldine Harless had suffered from Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's for seven or eight years. Her husband had taken early retirement from General Electric this summer to care for her.

"They were very sweet people, a very close couple," the neighbor said. "I just can't believe this happened."

Keywords:
FATALITY