LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - A store run by a couple who became a fixture of historic downtown Lawrenceville could close now that Homer and Carolyn Maughon have died.

Their store, Maughon's, had been in the Historic Courthouse Square for more than a century, and the Maughons ran the grocery since 1933.

The well-liked couple, married for 64 years, died within eight days of each other.

Mrs. Maughon, 92, died Feb. 21 and Mr. Maughon, 87, died March 1 after suffering a stroke.

Local business owners remembered the Maughons fondly. Garrett Davis said Mr. Maughon was like a grandfather to him and recalled working the cash register at Maughon's as a preschooler.

"He kept the Square feeling like a small town," Mr. Davis said. "It doesn't feel like a small town anymore."

At the store, Mr. Davis said, he learned to respect his elders and about the history of Lawrenceville.

Mr. Maughon worked six days a week even at age 87, Mr. Davis recalled. For many years, he would come to work in the mornings while his wife did housework and made lunch. Mr. Maughon would go home to pick up his wife at lunchtime, then they would eat together at the store and stay until closing.

Susan Davis, Mr. Davis's mother, said the city is also losing a great historian and a rare businessman.

"You just didn't see stores like that anymore," she said.