Daughter Says Her Dad ‘Died a Hero’ Trying to Protect Her Mom from Helene

Jerry and Marcia Savage perished late last week in their Beech Island, South Carolina, home’s bed as a result of Hurricane Helene, according to their daughter. They were clinging to each other. “My daddy died a hero because he was trying to save my mom,” Tammy Estep told. Estep, 54, says, “That’s how they went together in their final moment: hugging, loving each other until that last second of their lives.”

Jerry, who is 78 years old, and Savage, who is 74, were childhood friends who married in 1966 at Harriet Tubman High School in Augusta, Georgia. The pair passed away on the same day, January 26, which also happened to be their birthday. On Saturday, October 5, in the afternoon, they were both laid to rest.

Estep claims that “they just couldn’t be without each other. As Helene was ready to make landfall on the coast of northern Florida on Thursday, September 26, Estep, an Augusta resident, says she spoke with her mother around 4:30 p.m. local time. Marcia enquired as to whether she was prepared for the storm and advised her to be vigilant. Just across the state border from Augusta, on Friday, September 27, the hurricane made landfall at roughly four in the morning on Beech Island.

It simply wasn’t real. And it became worse the later it got,” claims Estep. “And it was insane, like, ‘bam, bam, bam,’ trees falling.” Nobody was anticipating any of this.” She continues, “My dad was on top of my mother, hugging her, trying to protect her. I don’t know if he heard a snap or what, but he somehow.”

The family claims that a roughly 60-foot pine tree crashed through the couple’s bedroom window and landed on Marcia’s side of the bed after falling from the top of their one-story house. In the week since Helene tore through six states in the Southeast, the number of fatalities from the storm has kept rising. Officials and news reports claim that around 220 individuals have died.

Estep recalls both of her parents as hard workers: her father was an electrician who sometimes retired but always found a way to return to the workforce. He was skilled in body work as well as creating cabinets and furniture. He also had a passion for motorcycles. She says, “He could build anything.” He was a great man in every way. He was a friend of mine. She claims that her mother, a housewife, was an enthusiastic attendee of the Second Baptist Church.

Get the best of PEOPLE, from celebrity news to gripping human interest stories, sent straight to your inbox by subscribing to their free daily newsletter. Every time the doors of that church opened, “my mama was there,” claims Estep. She was our constant companion. She was my best friend. The couple were also devoted grandparents to four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.  “They lived for family,” Estep says. “They’re the kindest, sweetest people you’d ever want to meet.”