Dolly Parton's late husband, Carl Dean, was notorious for staying out of the spotlight. Dean, who passed away on March 3, was still supportive of Parton and all of her business ventures, including her Dollywood theme park.
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But even though he was Parton's husband, he still didn't want any special treatment, which is why he always purchased his own ticket to Dollywood.
"He used to come to the park; he bought his own ticket - stood in line and got his ticket," Parton reveals to Knox News. "He didn't want somebody giving him a ticket 'cause he was Dolly's husband. Everybody thinks that's the funniest thing."
The couple lived in Nashville, but he loved spending time with Parton's relatives in the Smoky Mountains.
"He'd come up to East Tennessee to see some of my family and people that he loved of my people," Parton recalls. "And so, he'd just think, 'Well, I think I'll go to Dollywood, check things out.'"
Dean might have stayed behind the scenes, but he still made his opinions clear to his wife, whose official role at Dollywood is Dreamer-in-Chief.
"He would say, 'You need more bathrooms,'" Parton remembers with a laugh. "Or he would say, 'You need to tell them this or that. It's crowded over in that area. You might want to tell them they ought to do this or that.'"
"He wasn't coming to criticize, but he would notice things and he would say, you might want to bring this to their attention," she adds.
Dolly Parton's Message To Her Fans
Parton and Dean's love story spanned 60 years. It's a heartache she knows will take a long time to get over.
"I'm at peace that he's at peace, but that don't keep me from missing him and loving him," Parton says, adding that Dean had "suffered a great deal."
"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," she adds.
The Grand Ole Opry member was touched by how many people reached out to her when Dean passed away.
"I had no idea that so many people were so in love with our love, with our love story," Parton tells WVLT News. "But it is a heartbreaker, no doubt. I'll always deal with waves coming in and out. But at least I have my work, and Carl would expect that. That's all I've ever done. But thanks to everybody for the concern."
