Dolly Parton spent the majority of her life living beside her beloved husband, Carl Dean, who died just over a year before Parton did on Aug. 25, 2026.
Dean died on March 3, 2025, at 82 years old, marking the end of their nearly 59-year marriage. While his primary role to Parton was that of a husband, Dean played a larger part in the "I Will Always Love You" singer's life, serving as an inspiration, sounding board, and a pillar of normalcy amid Parton's life in the spotlight.
Seldom appearing in public, Dean was an integral part of Parton's behind-the-scenes life.
"I fell in love with Carl Dean when I was 18 years old. We have spent 60 precious and meaningful years together," Parton shared on social media following his death.
"Like all great love
stories, they never end. They live on in memory and song. He will always be the star of my life story, and I dedicate this song to him," Parton said, referencing her 2025 single "If You Hadn't Been There," which she released three days after his death on March 6.
Before she became one of the world's biggest entertainers, Parton and Dean's decades-long love story started in an unlikely place: a Nashville laundromat.
Who was Carl Dean?
Born in Nashville on July 20, 1942, Dean built a career as an asphalt paving contractor and business owner, operating a paving company while largely avoiding the spotlight during his nearly six-decade marriage to Parton.
Unlike his wife, Dean preferred a private life, and he lived one, as he rarely attended any industry events or awards shows with Parton.
"'Don't ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things because I ain't going,'" Parton recalled Dean saying after a BMI awards event during her appearance on Bunnie XO's "Dumb Blonde" podcast.
How Dolly Parton met her lifelong husband Carl Dean
Parton moved to Nashville in 1964 looking for stardom at the age of 18. Needless to say, she found it, but she also found her lifelong partner while doing laundry at the Wishy Washy Laundromat.
Dean, who was 21 at the time, drove by the front of the laundromat and looked Parton straight in the eye while speaking with her, a detail she recalled several times over the course of her life. The icon also recalled Dean being concerned that she'd get a sunburn by standing outside. The two then talked while she finished her laundry.
"My first thought was, 'I'm gonna marry that girl,' Dean said, according to Entertainment Tonight in 2016 when the two renewed their vows.
"My second thought was, 'Lord, she's good lookin.' And that was the day my life began. I wouldn't trade the last 50 years for nothing on this earth."
When did Carl Dean and Dolly Parton get married?
Roughly two years after that day at the laundromat, Parton and Dean tied the knot, getting married in a small and private ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia, just across the Tennessee state line, on May 30, 1966.
The ceremony was held at Ringgold Baptist Church and attended only by Parton and Dean, Dolly's mother, Avie Lee Parton, the pastor and the pastor's wife, according to Parton's official website.
How did Carl Dean die?
Dean's official cause of death was not publicly disclosed, though, according to Knox News, Dolly Parton later said that he "suffered a great deal."
“I'm at peace that he's at peace, but that don't keep me from missing him and loving him,” Parton said at the Dollywood season opener after his death, Knox News reported.
“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,” Parton continued."
Dean was laid to rest at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville. Parton will be buried next to him, the singer's nephew, Bryan Seaver, told TMZ.
Peter Burditt covers trending news and service journalism for The Tennessean. Contact him at PBurditt@nashvill.gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Dolly Parton and Carl Dean's love story began in Nashville. They'll rest there together
