Cook’s daughter, Marsha Gerber, said the twins were born prematurely and weren’t expected to make it. Instead, they lived 83 years together.

Cook died of a heart attack and Mitchel died from Alzheimer’s complications.

The family believes that the close timing of their deaths is not a coincidence. Gerber told KHOU that, "Helen met Clara in heaven."

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Jo'wan Bellamy taught in the GNETS program for 17 years and recently transferred to Atlanta’s new behavioral program at Crawford Long Middle School. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com