Dolly Parton's sister reveals family knew little about her cancer, shares why she kept it private
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Dolly Parton’s death is still a shock to her admirers worldwide. The legendary singer died at the age of 80 on August 25.
Although it was her family who announced Dolly’s death, her younger sister, Stella Parton, 77, has now revealed that many family members had no idea about the singer’s “brief battle with cancer.”
The country music legend had intentionally kept her cancer battle private. During an interview with CBS Mornings’ Gayle King on Wednesday, September 9, Stella shared more details about Parton’s decision to keep her health struggles private.
Stella Parton reveals that not many of her family members had any idea about her cancer
During the interview, Stella explained why Dolly had chosen to keep her cancer battle private. “Well, Dolly did not want anybody to tell that, because Dolly could not bear negative things, and she would not have wanted her fans worried about it.”
“She didn’t want a lot of the family worried about it. Some of us knew, the ones that were closer, but not every relative,” Stella added. She also said that her elder sister “did not want people sad.” “She’d be really happy and delighted that people have shown her so much love because she knew that that would make us feel better as her family,” she shared.
“Bottom line, end of the day, her family and Carl’s family and probably Judy’s family are the people that she would want to say, ‘See, everything I did, they cared. They really loved me,’” Stella shared, referring to Dolly’s late husband, Carl Dean, and her longtime best friend, Judy Ogle.
Stella Parton urged people to use Dolly Parton's life as an 'example for tolerance and respect'
In a previous Instagram post, Stella urged people to show more “compassion and wisdom” following her sister's death. “Use my sister’s life as an example for tolerance and respect toward others,” Stella wrote. “It’s not about the most clever comments, fake AI garbage, or snarky tweets.”
“My sister was one of the most generous, thoughtful and kind people I’ve ever known,” Stella continued. “What the world saw is exactly who she was, so much so, she told me recently that if there was no hope for her, she would still allow her medical team to try in the hope of helping others in the future.”
Speaking about her older sister, Stella added, “Dolly loved the world and everyone in it. I would criticize and complain about it and she would laugh and say; ‘Shoot Tedda, we’ve got more important things to do than worry about their silly a**es.’ She was right and she proved it every day.”
