At 98 years old, Elvis Presley's former nurse has passed away. Marian J. Cocke served as the music sensation's in-home nurse for the last two years of his life. In memory of the singer's nurse, Priscilla Presley shared a sweet message to remember how much she meant to Elvis.
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Tribute To Elvis Presley's Former Nurse Shared After Death At 98
"Marian you will be greatly missed," Priscilla wrote on Instagram. She put this caption to a photo of her hugging Marian. "Your spirit touched many people and especially Elvis. You were the person that he always counted on. Thank you for always taking care of him."
As reported by Taste of Country, Marian and Elvis met in January 1975 when she was a nursing supervisor. The singer, who was struggling with health issues and drug addiction at the time, was under Marian's care. This was at Memphis, Tennessee's Baptist Memorial Hospital. Elvis stayed in that hospital for around three weeks, as per the requests of his physician, George Nichopoulus.
After the superstar died in 1977, Marian shared details of her time with Elvis through a book. In 1979, she published I Called Him Babe: Elvis Presley's Nurse Remembers. Marian recounted how they didn't grow close until his second time back at the hospital that August.
According to People, Elvis had asked Marian to "stay the night" during his second hospital visit. "I stayed in the room across the hall," she said. "If he wanted anything, he'd come in and shake my shoulders. And most of the time it was, 'I can't sleep, would you get up and talk to me?' And I'd get up, put my robe on and sit in the sitting room with him."
How Presley's Nurse Helped Him During His Final Years
Due to how caring Marian was with Elvis, his physician asked her to take over as the celebrity's at-home nurse. Marian agreed, staying at Graceland with Elvis for over two years without ever accepting payment. Still, Elvis gave her a "beautiful white Pontiac," and Marian described him as "too giving."
"That was a major fault he had," she recalled. "He cared more about giving and helping over people than he did himself." Marian stayed until she eventually left his care due to her mother's terminal illness.
Fortunately, his nurse managed to see him just a few days before his death. In an interview from the mid-2000s, Marian revealed her last moments with the celebrity. "He called me one morning at about two o'clock, and wanted me to come out and sit with him," she explained. Elvis couldn't fall asleep, so she sat at his bedside for "about four hours" before he told her she could go home.
"He said, 'Miss Cocke?' And I turned around, looked at him, said, 'What is it, honey?'" Marian recounted. "And he said, 'The doors of this house will always be open for you.'"
Those were Elvis' final words he spoke to Marian face-to-face. At only 42 years old, Elvis Presley passed away in August 1977.
