By Jason C. Mattox

An elderly husband and wife were found dead in their front yard, passed away from natural causes.

No foul play is suspected in the deaths of James B. Terry Jr., 83, and wife Alta Terry, 81, said county coroner Gracie Grant-Gulledge.

An autopsy was performed, she said.

The couple’s bodies were discovered Friday morning by their son, when he couldn’t reach them by phone, she said.

The Terrys lived in the Central Academy community.

“He had been trying to get in touch with them, and when he couldn’t get an answer he drove down from Memphis,” she said.

“The wife had a stroke, and it looks like she just laid down and never got back up,” she said.

The husband, who had Alzheimer’s, then laid down “and he went, too,” said the coroner.

Mr. and Mrs. Terry were both born in the Blackjack community. They married in 1946, when Mr. Terry returned from service in the U.S. Army.

Services are Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Bellevue Baptist Church Chapel in Memphis.