NEW YORK – Identical twins Julian and Adrian Riester were born seconds apart 92 years ago. They died hours apart this week.
The siblings, born in Buffalo, New York, were also brothers in the Order of Friars Minor.
Professed friars for 65 years, they spent much of that time working together at St Bonaventure University, doing carpentry work, gardening and driving visitors to and from the airport and around town.
“It was fun to see them, just quiet, gentle souls,” Yvonne Peace, who worked at the St Bonaventure Friary, said yesterday.
They died at St Anthony Hospital in St Petersburg, Florida, on Wednesday – Brother Julian in the morning and Brother Adrian in the evening.
Both died of heart failure, said Fr James Toal, guardian of St Anthony Friary in St Petersburg, where the inseparable twins lived since moving from western New York in 2008.
“It really is almost a poetic ending to the remarkable story of their lives,” spokesman Tom Missel said. “Stunning when you hear it, but hardly surprising given that they did almost everything together.” – (AP)
