Sending prayers to the entire Parton family.
Today, it was announced that Dolly Parton’s older brother, Coy “Denver” Parton, died on July 23rd at age 82-years-old. Parton was a Sevierville, Tennessee resident, and he spent his career as a crane operator and a homestead farmer, according to his obituary which posted online by Atchley Funeral Home.
Of course, Dolly and Denver were two of 12 children born to Avie Lee Owens Parton and Robert Lee Parton in Sevier County, and they came from very humble beginnings growing up in the mountains if East Tennessee.
The obituary states that he was preceded in death by his wife, Carolyn Parton, his parents and four brothers. He is “survived by his daughters, Chris Parton and Jennifer Parton; grandson, Ian Parton and fiancée Taylor York; brother, Bobby Parton; sisters, Willadeene Buzzeo, Dolly Parton, Stella Parton; Cassie Griffith (Greg), Freida Parton, Rachel George (Eric), Laura Price (David); sister-in-law, Kay Parton. A host of nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, and cousins; special nephew, Mitchell Blalock; special friends, Nancy Hurst and Kathy Farr.”
The services will be private, and online condolences may be made to atchleyfuneralhome.com.
Of course, Dolly lost her husband of almost 60 years, Carl Dean, last March, as he passed away in Nashville at the age of 82-years-old. The famous story goes that Dolly and Carl met outside of the Wishy Washy laundromat in Nashville in 1964, the same day that Dolly moved to Music City. They dated for two years, and decided they wanted to get married.
Dolly has since faced some health issues, and she canceled her Las Vegas residency which was slated for last fall, as well as the rescheduled dates, as a result. She has understandably kept the exact reasoning private, though she did previously reveal that she had dealt with severe kidney stones, which has led many to think that might have something to do with what’s going on now.
Unlike many of her other siblings, Denver never got into the music or entertainment business, and seemingly led a quiet life farming and working on cranes. It’s no doubt been a challenging year for Dolly and her entire family, and I’m sure the siblings, as well as Denver’s children and grandchildren, are all heartbroken with the loss of their beloved brother, dad and grandpa.
Dolly often talks about her large family and what it was like for them growing up “poor with three o’s,” as she has said before, but they all seemed to have remained very humble despite all of the success and attention their family has achieved, none more notably than Mrs. Dolly herself, obviously.
She has yet to make a statement on the loss, and I’m sure she will at some point, but obviously this just happened so they are all focused on grieving and celebrating Denver’s life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Parton family.
