Dolly Parton Mourns Husband
The couple was together for over 60 years
Dolly Parton’s beloved and ultra-private husband, Carl Thomas Dean, has died at the age of 82.
Parton shared the news in an Instagram story on Monday.
“Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville at the age of 82. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. He is survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie. Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy. The family asks for privacy during this difficult time.”
Parton met Dean in 1964 outside a laundromat in Nashville. She was 18 and had just moved to Nashville to pursue a music career.
“I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me),” Parton described the meeting. “He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”
They married two years later, on Memorial Day in 1966, in a small ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia.
It was the first and only marriage for them both!
When Parton’s music career started to take off, Dean stayed in the background and conducted his asphalt business. Parton described him as shy and quiet – but she was happy they each had their “thing.” She said it worked for them to keep their relationship out of the public eye. She occasionally shared photos on her social media accounts.
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Dean did inspire her iconic song “Jolene.” She has said that the real Jolene (not her real name) was a lady at the bank who got a little flirtatious with Dean. Parton described it as a running joke between the two of them. The name Jolene came from a fan.
Parton told People Magazine in 2015 that “They say opposites attract, and it’s true. We’re completely opposite, but that’s what makes it fun. I never know what he’s gonna say or do. He’s always surprising me.”
Just last year, Parton reflected on their long and happy life together to the Knox News. “There’s always that safety, that security, that strength,” she said. “He’s a good man, and we’ve had a good life and he’s been a good husband.”
Our sincere condolences to Dolly Parton.
