“She wanted to keep it very quiet”: Dolly Parton’s family details singer’s burial ceremony

While her husband, Carl Dean, a Nashville-based businessman, passed away last year in March, Dolly Parton took her last breath on August 25, 2026, at Tennessee's Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. According to Us Weekly, the Baby I'm Burning hitmaker, Parton, who died at 80 after struggling with cancer for a short time, wanted her funeral to be a quiet affair.

As per Us Weekly, the founder of the non-profit Dollywood Foundation, Dolly Parton, who was buried next to her late husband, Carl Dean, wanted her memorial service to be an intimate affair with limited people. Dolly's cousin Richie Owens, who worked with the late country music artist as a band member, opened up about her during an interview with Today on September 3, 2026.

Richie Owens, who is also a record producer, recalled how Dolly Parton would mention her funeral and talk about it. Parton's burial ceremony, which was held on August 28, took place at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville. Owens told Today:

"She wanted to keep it very quiet, and the word keeps getting brought up, ‘a funeral.’ I don’t believe that is really the case in the situation. It was a burial to be buried beside her husband, and she wanted it very small."

While talking about who all attended the burial ceremony and how it went, Richie Owens further added:

"A few family members were there. Other people, I’m sure, would have liked to [have] been there, were either out doing other things and stuff. It was very quiet, very quickly done and not for any bad reasons whatsoever. It’s just what she wanted. She wanted to keep it very, very private."

The late Dolly Parton preferred her loved ones to pay their respect by donating to Imagination Library

While speaking with Today, Richie Owens revealed that the Wildflowers singer, Dolly Parton, would rather have her loved ones honor and pay tribute to her by donating to one of her nonprofit organizations, Imagination Library, than have a big funeral ceremony.

Imagination Library sends free books to children up to five years old in specific areas across the US and a few other selected countries. While talking about how Dolly Parton genuinely cared that her nonprofit organizations functioned properly and how giving she was as a person, Richie said:

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"She really cared about her charities. What you saw from Dolly is what she was in real life at home. [She was] personable, magical, just very giving. You got the same thing, she didn’t turn it on and off. Dolly was always Dolly. She had the greatest sense of humor."

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