Having Alzheimer’s disease and advanced heart disease, I wonder why he didn’t have in-home care or visiting nurse’s care. It appears that he lived for about a week after his wife died.
Most accounts suggested his wife was his at home care person. She was 30 years younger and apparently very healthy. Most people don’t see hantavirus as a likely way to go out. They probably would have gone on just fine til his heart gave out.
My guess is that Gene Hackman and his wife preferred privacy for three reasons: to minimize the risk of tabloid coverage; to prevent a rush of relatives to the home angling to secure or expand their inheritances; and to avoid having Hackman hustled off unwillingly into a nursing home as part of such maneuverings.