Dolly Parton’s Hometown Pays Tribute As Singer Is Laid To Rest

Dolly Parton‘s humanitarian impact continues to be heralded in the nooks and crannies of the country, nearly a week after she died.

People within her hometown have spoken up about her generosity in their individual lives and as a community in general, with one fan saying everything Parton did was about taking care of others.

It comes as the “Jolene” singer’s family confirmed that she has been laid to rest in a private cemetery close to her husband of several decades, Carl Dean.

For the people of East Tennessee, Dolly Parton was not just a global superstar who sold tens of millions of records; she was family in every sense of the word.

Born and raised in a small cabin in Locust Ridge, her humble mountain beginnings were reflected in her career and helped put Appalachian culture on the world map.

Even after achieving global stardom, the “9 to 5” singer chose to remain with her people and help build their community in the little way she could.

Back in 2020, she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville for research work on a COVID vaccine. She also helped to raise the same amount for a hospital project that eventually housed the Dolly Parton Center for Women’s Services in Sevierville.

She was so well loved that a local florist, Dustin Manning, revealed that he received orders from Germany and Korea for bouquets to be left for her in large numbers.

There were so many that they had to remove the first batch and donate them to hospitals and homes for the elderly before more arrived.

“The best gift is given twice,” Manning said, paraphrasing Parton.

4

Alongside several of her well-known charitable efforts, like the Imagination Library, which donates millions of books to children to encourage literacy, Parton also made a quiet impact in the lives of many families in the area.

Following the 2016 Smoky Mountain fires that ravaged nearby Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, her Dollywood Foundation gave 900 families $1,000 a month for six months, and backed that up with a final payment of $5,000.

“She was here before FEMA,” resident Michael Gibson said, referring to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Reports suggest she also donated money when Hurricane Helene hit the region in 2024, saying she loved her “mountain people.”

Hundreds of locals and traveling fans have gathered around the community to pay their last respects to the global icon in the days following her death.

Parton Was Also Known For Her Work With Children

4

Parton’s work with the children’s hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee, cannot be overemphasized.

Formerly named East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, it was renamed after her in recognition of the “generational and transformational commitment” she made to the establishment.

“I’ve always believed every child deserves to grow up healthy, hopeful and surrounded with love,” Parton said in a video statement.

The hospital’s chief executive, Matt Schaefer, reiterated the big role Parton played in the establishment, saying her gift would create a “halo effect of everything she stood for in her life, including her love for children in particular.”

It is said that 60% of the patients there receive free treatment, with the cost largely taken care of by donations.

“We really depend on donations,” said Natalia Havasy, the hospital’s director of marketing. “We felt the children’s hospital in town should be hers. The halo effect of Dolly… you just can’t touch it.”

Dolly Parton Is Laid To Rest Beside Husband Carl Dean

4

The Queen of Country died on Tuesday, August 25, following a brief battle with cancer.

Her family confirmed she was laid to rest beside her late husband, Carl Dean, at Woodlawn Memorial Park on Friday, August 28.

In a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said that she expected Whitney Houston’s cover of her song “I Will Always Love You” to be played, and would like for the hymn “If We Never Meet Again” to be sung, explaining that it was her father’s favorite.

“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 said. “That was my daddy’s favorite. We did sing it at his funeral, and I would like it to be sung at mine.”

The Country Icon Could Have Hundreds Of Unreleased Works

4

As it stands, fans will still get to relate to the “Coat of Many Colors” singer, as she reportedly left a song locked in a time capsule that will only be opened in 2046 on what would have been her 100th birthday.

However, she may have left more secret recordings than initially thought. A source told the Daily Mail she deliberately hid her unreleased works inside a secure archive known to those close to her as “The Vault.”

“The songs are hidden very safely in ‘The Vault’; that is what she called her secret storage place for her music,” the source claimed. “They are protected and very secure. There could be as many as 200 songs; no one really knows, because Dolly was very secretive.”

A second source explained that the late singer was purposely preparing materials that could be shared after her death.

“She was working on posthumous music for after she was gone,” the source explained. “It’s a music catalog that will live on forever.”