Dolly Parton’s final resting place will be beside her late husband in a Nashville mausoleum.
The country music legend, 80, died Tuesday, and her family confirmed she will be laid to rest at Woodlawn Memorial Park alongside Carl Thomas Dean, 82, her husband of 58 years who died March 3. Dean was interred in a mausoleum already marked with a plaque bearing both their names, an inscription reading “Married May 30, 1966” beneath two interlocking wedding bands. Below each name sit depictions of their childhood homes, with Parton’s showing the one-bedroom log cabin in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, where she grew up with 11 siblings in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Parton’s immediate family will hold a small, private funeral service per her explicit request. In a statement posted on Instagram this week, her family announced: “At Dolly’s request, a small, private service will be held for immediate family. Dolly’s fans and friends from around the world are encouraged to pay tribute to Dolly on social media by tagging @DollyParton or by leaving a message.” The family also requested donations to her Imagination Library, the charity she founded that gifts books to children in need.
Bryan Seaver, Parton’s nephew and longtime head of security, revealed her death in an Instagram video she had asked him to prepare years earlier. “This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” he said. “As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.”
Seaver shared the specific details of how Parton wanted to be laid to rest. “Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to feel comfortable and have some rest,” he explained in the video.
Parton had also chosen the music for her funeral long before her death. Speaking with the outlet in 2014, she named the hymn she wanted played. “There’s a song called ‘If We Never Meet Again’,” she said. “It’s an old country–gospel church song that talks about if we never meet again this side of heaven, I will meet you on that beautiful shore,” She continued to recite the lyrics: “Where the charming roses bloom forever and where separations come no more.” The song, written by Southern Gospel songwriter Albert E. Brumley, was also played at her father Robert Parton Sr.’s funeral in 2000.
In her final interview, published just days before her death, Parton spoke about neglecting her own health while caring for Dean in his final months. “I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl,” she said.
The couple married in 1966 after two years of dating, and Dean remained famously private throughout their nearly six-decade union, rarely appearing in public or giving interviews. His death in March came just months before Parton’s own passing, which prompted tributes from fellow Hollywood stars, devoted fans, and even members of the British royal family.
Parton’s death was announced Tuesday, though her family has not specified a date for the private funeral service.
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