One of the last times anyone saw Betsy Arakawa in public, she was strolling through the aisles of a CVS Pharmacy in Santa Fe, her face covered by a mask, likely because of the virus ravaging her lungs.

Gene Hackman​ died of heart disease and Betsy Arakawa's cause of death was hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, officials said.

Gene Hackman's longtime friend, Tom Allin, recalled the legendary actor once telling him that he would have been dead "long ago" without his wife, Betsy Arakawa Hackman, taking care of him.