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- [S4] Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee), 14 Nov 2000.
Lee Parton, father of famous singer, dies
November 14, 2000
By Terry Morrow, News-Sentinel entertainment writer
Dolly Parton was definitely her daddy's little girl.
The singer-actress often talked of her love for her father, Lee Parton, who died Sunday at Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee. The elder Parton was admitted to the hospital on Oct. 31 after suffering a stroke.
She said during a late-summer interview that her success in business was a legacy for her family, and specifically her father.
"It makes me happy because ... it makes my people proud. It's like something I have done for my parents and my cousins and my friends," she said. "It lets me carry on Daddy's name, in a way, like a good (child) would."
Lee Parton, a Sevier County farmer who worked many odd jobs to make ends meet, was 79. He and wife Avie Lee had 12 children.
Parton often reminisced about her father's sacrifice for his family. Briefly during Dolly's childhood, he moved to Detroit to find work. He didn't stay there long, the singer recounts, because his heart belonged to the hills of East Tennessee.
After Parton became a famous singer, she penned "Smoky Mountain Memories" as a tribute to her father, his love for his family and the Smoky Mountains. She recorded other songs with a fatherly theme: "Daddy" and "Daddy Come and Get Me" were both Top 40 singles for her early in her career.
If it is true that Parton and her siblings inherited their musical skills from her mother's side of the family, then they got their flash and love for attention from their father's side. Each year he rode beside his superstar daughter in a parade honoring her.
He also appeared in many of Parton's network TV specials. In one special that aired on ABC in the late 1980s, Lee Parton was seen escorting his daughter around Sevier County in a sleigh and a beat-up pickup truck. He often attended his famous daughter's public events in East Tennessee with a proud smile on his face.
A man who did not have much formal education, Lee Parton was never ashamed of his background or his mountain heritage.
He and his wife lived a relatively quiet life in an unassuming farmhouse on a large hill near the Sevierville city limits. It's a place where Parton's most ardent fans would drive by and occasionally feel comfortable enough to stop to talk to him.
- [S4] Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee), 14 Nov 2000.
PARTON, ROBERT LEE - age 79, of Sevierville, Tennessee, passed away Sunday, November 12, 2000 at The Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee in Knoxville. Mr. Parton was a farmer and a construction worker. He was preceded in death by his parents, Bessie (Rayfield) and Walter Parton; son, Larry Parton; brothers and sisters, Margie, Oscar, Earl and Winford Parton; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Jake and Rena (Valentine) Owens; sister-in-law, and brother-in-law, Estelle Watson and Lester Owens.
Survivors: wife, Avie Lee Owens Parton; children and spouses, Willadeene Parton, David and Kay Parton, Denver and Carolyn Parton, Dolly and Carl Dean, Bobby and Angie Parton, Stella Parton, Cassie Parton, Randy and Deb Parton, Freida Parton, Floyd Parton, Rachel and Eric George; grandchildren, Mitchell Blalock, Donna Lashlee, Dena Bell, Chris and Jennifer Parton, Clint and Danielle Parton, Bryan and Rebecca Seaver, Tim Rauhoff, Tever and Heidi Parton, Jada Anderson, Hannah Dennison; great-grandchildren, Jordan and Jared Bell; brothers and sisters, Orville, Ray, Leonard and Fred Parton, Hazel Whaley, Christine Rickman, Irmatrude Barnes and Ora Dale Grey; sister-in-law and brothers-in-law, Dorothy Jo Owens, Henry, Louis, Bill and Alden Owens. The family will receive friends 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, November 14, 2000 at Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville, Tennessee. www.atchleyfuneralhome.com.
Robert Lee Parton obituary
- [S142] Newspaper Article, The Mountain Press, 15 Nov 2000.
Dolly loses father
By: PENNY BANDY, Staff Writer November 15, 2000
Dolly Parton's father was described as a "super nice guy" and hard worker by Dian Robertson, who was a neighbor to the Parton family as a child.
Robert Lee Parton, 79, died Sunday at Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee. He reportedly had one or more strokes in the past couple of weeks.
Robertson said she had heard Parton suffered a stroke.
"He had been healthy other than that," she said.
Robertson grew up about a half mile away from the Partons in Caton's Chapel. She also previously worked for Dolly, buying property for her locally.
"I always loved him," she said of Lee Parton. "He always worked hard to support his family."
Parton was a farmer and construction worker.
"We didn't call him Lee," said Robertson. "We called him Widner. I don't know why. It's what my dad called him. It's just a nickname we always had for him."
She said Parton "was always pulling some sort of joke."
Robertson said despite his daughter's rise to fame, Parton continued living simply.
"He was extremely proud of her," said Robertson.
She said Dolly is close to her tight-knit family of 12 siblings. (Another sibling died at birth.)
"I would say she should take (her father's death) pretty hard," Robertson said.
In her 1994 book, "Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business," Dolly tells several humorous stories about her father.
In the opening paragraph, she says her father couldn't pay Dr. Robert Thomas for delivering her, so he gave the doctor "a sack of cornmeal."
Dolly tells about her father making toys out of wood for his children.
"When I think about survival and the things Mama and Daddy did to keep us all alive and reasonably healthy, I am aware that it was not just their wills and wits that kept us going," Dolly writes in the book. "It was a legacy passed down from every mountain dweller who had ever learned anything about surviving hundreds of years before, starting with the Native Americans. Other than the land itself, this was the most important thing parents had to leave their children, and my parents had learned it well."
Parton's family will receive friends from 6 to 9 p.m. today at Atchley Funeral Home.
A press release from Dollywood says Parton's family "respectfully request the family be given time to mourn privately."
"We obviously feel horrible for the family," said Dollywood Public Relations Manager Pete Owens.
Penny Bandy can be reached at pbandy@themountainpress.com.
ŠThe Mountain Press 2000
- [S142] Newspaper Article, The Mountain Press, 15 Nov 2000.
Robert Lee Parton, age 79 of Sevierville died Sunday, November 12, 2000 at the Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee in Knoxville.
He was preceded in death by his son Larry Parton and four brothers and sisters. His parents were Bessie (Rayfield) and Walter Parton.
Survivors include his wife, Avie Lee Owens Parton; children and spouses, Willadeene Parton, David and Kay Parton, Denver and Carolyn Parton, Dolly and Carl Dean, Bobby and Angie Parton, Stella Parton, Cassie Parton, Randy and Deb Parton, Freida Parton, Floyd Parton, and Rachel and Eric George; 14 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; brothers and sisters Orville, Ray, Leonard, and Fred Parton, Hazel Whaley, Christine Rickman, Irmatrude Barnes, Ora Dale Grey, sister-in-law and brothers-in-law Dorothy Jo Owens, Henry, Louis, Bill and Alden Owens.
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 12 Nov 2000.
Robert Lee Parton
March 22, 1921 - November 12, 2000
Birthplace: Sevier County, Tennessee
Resided In: Sevierville Tennessee USA
Visitation: November 14, 2000
Service: None
Robert Lee Parton, age 79 of Sevierville, TN died Sunday, November, 12, 2000 at the Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee in Knoxville. Mr. Parton was a farmer and a construction worker. He was preceded in death by his parents- Bessie (Rayfield) and Walter Parton; son- Larry Parton; brothers and sisters- Margie, Oscar, Earl and Winford Parton; father-in-law and mother-in-law- Jake and Rena (Valentine) Owens; sister-in-law and brother-in-law- Estelle Watson and Lester Owens.
Survivors: Wife: Avie Lee Owens Parton Children and spouses: Willadeene Parton David and Kay Parton Denver and Carolyn Parton Dolly and Carl Dean Bobby and Angie Parton Stella Parton Cassie Parton Randy and Deb Parton Freida Parton Floyd Parton Rachel and Eric George Grandchildren: Mitchell Blalock Donna Lashlee Dena Bell Chris and Jennifer Parton Clint and Danielle Parton Bryan and Rebecca Seaver Tim Rauhoff Tever and Heidi Parton Jada Anderson Hannah Dennison Great-grandchildren: Jordan and Jared Bell Brothers and sisters: Orville, Ray, Leonard and Fred Parton Hazel Whaley Christine Rickman Irmatrude Barnes Ora Dale Grey Sister-in-law and brothers-in-law: Dorothy Jo Owens Henry, Louis, Bill and Alden Owens.
The family will receive friends 6-9 PM Tuesday , November 14, 2000 at Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville, Tn.
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 15045301).
- [S91] Smoky Mountain Memories, Willadeene Parton, (1996), xxii.
- [S129] The Official Marriage Records of Sevier County Tennessee 1914-1944, Volume II, Smoky Mountain Historical Society, (Copyright 2008), ISBN 1-890150-00-4.
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