Dolly Parton Shares Sweet Story About Late Husband Carl Dean: ‘The Funniest Thing’

Dolly Parton is honoring her late husband Carl Dean in a sweet way. Dean died on March 3 at age 82. 

Despite keeping their relationship under wraps for her entire career, she’s now sharing some personal stories, including dishing on how he went on undercover spying missions to her theme park Dollywood.

Speaking to Knox News on March 17, the “I Will Always Love You” singer said, “I’m doing better than I thought I would. I’ve been with him 60 years. So, I’m going to have to relearn some of the things that we’ve done. But I’ll keep him always close”

She added: “I’m at peace that he’s at peace, but that don’t keep me from missing him and loving him,” Parton added. She mentioned that Dean had “suffered a great deal” before his death. “It’s a hole in my heart, you know, but we’ll fill that up with good stuff, and he’ll still always be with me.”

Parton and Dean married in 1966. He was a respected business owner in Nashville. The two never had children. 

In a March 7 Instagram post, Parton shared a love letter to her longtime husband. “I fell in love with Carl Dean when I was 18 years old. We have spent 60 precious and meaningful years together. Like all great love stories, they never end. They live on in memory and song. He will always be the star of my life story, and I dedicate this song to him,” she captioned a post, noting her single, “If You Hadn’t Been There.” 

Of their longtime union without children, Parton once said, “When my husband and I were dating, and then when we got married, we just assumed we would have kids,” she told Billboard in 2014. “We weren’t doing anything to stop it. In fact, we thought maybe we would. We even had names if we did, but it didn’t turn out that way.”