Romeo Dionisi, 62, and Anna Maria Sopranzi, 68, hanged themselves in their home after Sopranzi's pension from her career as an artisan evaporated. Italy had raised the retirement age by five years.
Then, in an apparent fit of despair, her older brother Giuseppe tossed himself into the Adriatic Sea.
"They were people with great dignity," said Ivo Costamagna, the couple's neighbor in the previously prosperous town of Civitanova Marche.
"People like Romeo would not accept charity or social service aid," Costamagna told CNN. "Romeo just wanted a job."
But the jobs did not come, and the couple could not pay rent, reported Italian news agency ANSA. They wrote out their suicide note asking for forgiveness and directing neighbors to the room with their bodies.
They intentionally left the garage door open so that they could be found.
News of the tragedy spread across the country and even reached the nation's political leaders, including Pier Luigi Bersani of the nation's left-leaning Democratic Party.
"The tragedy of Civitanova Marche leaves (me) shocked and speechless," Bersani said. "We all have to convince ourselves that, out of the spotlight, there is a real and dramatic social emergency."
Italy is experienced its longest recession in 20 years, and suicide rates are on the rise, according to ANSA.
The seaside town's mayor declared Saturday a day of mourning.
