John Greenwalt, a terminally ill cancer patient, gets a kiss from his bride Betty Evans at their wedding reception Sept. 1 at Butler Memorial Hospital. He died Monday, 10 days after the wedding.

John Greenawalt, 46, of Butler, who was featured in a front page story Sept. 4 when he got married in Butler Memorial Hospital, died late Monday from gastrointestinal cancer at the VNA inpatient Hospice.

He married his longtime partner Betty Evans on Sept. 1 to fulfill one of his last wishes.

“I'm still in shock,” said his new bride Betty Greenawalt on Tuesday. “I knew it was coming but everything happened so fast.”

Because of his ill health, the pair were married in the hospital chapel. Donations from relatives, the hospital, businesses and nonprofits paid for their wedding and a reception in the hospital.

The Greenawalts were together for 14 years before they wed, living for 10 years in the Chicora and Petrolia area, and for about four years in Butler, Greenawalt said. They'd hoped to save enough to pay for a wedding themselves but never did, she said.

“The wedding was beautiful. We were only married for 10 days before he passed,” she said.

Funeral arrangements are by the Hile Funeral Home of Chicora.

“(The funeral home) is not only a business,” said Chris Hile, funeral director. “This is a ministry for me and my wife and we believe everyone deserves a final, dignified funeral rite.”

Donations for funeral expenses may be sent to the funeral home at 339 Chicora Fenelton Road, Chicora, PA 16025

In addition, a benefit is planned for Nov. 3 at the Fairview Township Municipal Building, 1571 Hooker Road, Karns City.

From 1 to 5 p.m. there will be bingo and a raffle, and from 6 to 11 p.m. there will be entertainment, food and a raffle, according to Greenawalt.

It is free to attend, but drinks will be sold. There will be no alcohol served.

His obituary is on Page 6.