Dolly Parton was famously private about some of the most personal parts of her life, and her final health battle was no exception.
Even after the country icon acknowledged that she was dealing with health problems, the full extent of what she was facing remained largely unknown to the public — and even to some of her own family members.
Now, Parton’s cousin Richie Owens is explaining why she chose to keep her cancer diagnosis so private in the months before her death.
Dolly Parton Kept Her Cancer Battle Private
Parton died at age 80 on Aug. 25 following a brief battle with cancer. Her representatives said she was surrounded by loved ones at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville when she died.
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Owens said Parton had acknowledged her health problems publicly, but she didn’t reveal everything she was going through.
“She, of course, posted herself that she had been going through health problems, but no one really knew what a lot of that was, including myself,” he explained on the Today show Thursday (Sept. 3).
That meant even some members of Parton’s family didn’t know the full extent of her illness.
Why Dolly Didn’t Tell Everyone
Owens said Parton’s decision to keep her health private had everything to do with the kind of energy she wanted around her.
“She always kept things private because she always wanted to keep everybody being positive around her and put that out there in the world,” he said. “Just, ‘Don’t worry about me, I’m going to be fine.'”
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Rather than allowing concern about her health to become the focus, Parton wanted to reassure the people around her and keep things positive.
That instinct for privacy extended to her final arrangements, too. Owens recently explained that Parton wanted her burial to be extremely small and private, with only a few loved ones present.
Parton was laid to rest beside her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, on Aug. 28 in Nashville.
Remembering Dolly Parton
Parton’s representatives remembered her for bringing “joy, laughter, hope and integrity” to everything she touched.
They also highlighted her generosity through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and her support of medical research, noting that her unconditional love for others was central to the legacy she leaves behind.
Following her death, Parton’s family encouraged fans and friends around the world to pay tribute to her on social media. They also requested donations to the Imagination Library instead of flowers.
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For Owens, Parton’s decision to keep her illness private wasn’t about shutting people out. It was another example of how carefully she chose what she shared with the world — even when she was facing something as serious as cancer.
9 Times Dolly Parton Sang About Heaven and Her Faith
Dolly Parton has an extensive catalog of music from her decades in the genre. And while there are several big hits like “Jolene” and “9 to 5,” it’s the songs about her faith that she might have loved the most.
Parton was open about her love for Jesus, and she often sang about it, weaving in beautiful imagery of what Heaven would be like one day.
She kept her faith on her sleeve until the day she passed, finally getting to where she was going.
Gallery Credit: Jess Rose
