Get to know the late wife of 'The Golden Bachelor' Lead Gerry Turner, who was married for over four decades

Although Gerry Turner will be searching for a wife during the series debut of The Golden Bachelor, he is a well-polished love machine. The single life is new for the Bachelor Nation lead as he was once in a ​long-term relationship and married for over four decades.

Like a tale as old as time, Gerry married his high school sweetheart, Toni.

The pair were married for 43 years after they wed in 1974. She suddenly fell ill in November 2017 and passed away after he “took his wife to the hospital when she never came home.”

During their marriage, Gerry and Toni welcomed daughters Angie and Jenny and later became loving grandparents to granddaughters Charlee and Payton.

“Six years after Toni’s passing and with the support of his family, Turner is ready to put himself out there and find a love that will stand the test of time in his golden years,” Gerry’s ABC bio reads.

Gerry gave fans a glimpse into his past romance with his late wife and admitted she “would be very pleased” about his Bachelor journey during a July 19 appearance on “The Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, which is now cohosted by Bachelor in Paradise season 7 couple Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt.

“I have a picture of her in my walk-in closet, so every night I’m in there and I see her picture. It’s the only one now that I have in the house and in the mornings, I see her picture and you know, we talk,” Gerry said in an eye-watering comment. “I’ll make a brief comment — or sometimes that talk is silent. But here, lately, in the last couple of months, you know, my question for her is always, ‘So what do you think of this? Am I doing the right thing?’ And I really have strong positive feelings about it. I think she would be very happy.”

The new reality star later explained her approval comes after seeing him “fail at a number of attempted relationships and dating.”

Gerry continued, “It’s positive, it’s energetic. It’s a way of communicating and finding the connection with a number of people, but specifically one special person and pretty confident.”