Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa’s bodies laid to rest in private family memorial

Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa have finally been laid to rest weeks after their shocking deaths.

The Oscar-winning actor and his classical pianist wife had their funeral in Santa Fe, New Mexico, People reported on Tuesday.

It was preceded by a private memorial service for an intimate group family — including Hackman’s three children — and close friends.

The family farewell comes after Hackman and his wife’s bodies were discovered in their Santa Fe home on February 26.

Police have since determined that Arakawa died first around February 12 as a result of respiratory symptoms caused by the rare, but deadly, hantavirus, which is passed on through rodent urine, saliva and feces. She was 65.

Hackman, who was suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s disease at the time, is believed to have wandered around the couple’s home alone after his wife’s death.

The actor, who was 95, is believed to have died nearly a week later, around February 18, from severe heart disease, while Alzheimer’s and kidney disease were contributing factors. 

One of the couple’s dogs, an Australian Kelpie mix named Zinna, was also found dead in their home in a crate, where it is thought to have died from dehydration and starvation. 

Hackman and Arakawa’s two other dogs were found alive on their property.

Sources shared that Hackman’s son Christopher, 65, and his daughters Elizabeth, 62, and Leslie, 58, were all in attendance at the couple’s memorial service.

Hackman shared his three children with his first wife, Faye Maltese, who died in 2017. They were married from 1956 until their 1986 divorce. 

He and Arakawa later wed in 1991 after being together for seven years.