“Dolly Parton’s Husband of Nearly 60 Years, Carl Dean, Dies at 82—Fans Heartbroken”
Carl Dean, the beloved husband of country icon Dolly Parton, passed away Monday in Nashville at the age of 82.
According to a statement from Parton’s publicist, Dean will be laid to rest in a private family ceremony. No cause of death was disclosed.
“Carl and I shared a beautiful life together for over 60 years. Words can’t express the love we had,” Parton said, thanking fans for their prayers and support while requesting privacy.
The couple’s love story began when Parton was just 18, meeting Dean outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat on her first day in Nashville. “I was surprised and delighted that he looked me in the eyes instead of anywhere else,” she once recalled. They wed two years later on May 30, 1966, in an intimate ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia.
Dean, a businessman who ran an asphalt-paving company in Nashville, valued privacy throughout their marriage. His absence from the public eye even fueled speculation about his existence, with Parton joking in 1984, “Some people think I made him up to keep men away.”
Dean is survived by Parton and his two siblings, Sandra and Donnie.