Dolly Parton‘s sister, Stella Parton, said the beloved country superstar remained focused on helping others even as she faced cancer, telling family she would consider experimental treatments if doctors believed there was “no hope.”
“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 experimental drugs in the hope of helping others in the future,” Stella Parton wrote in a Facebook post.
Stella said her sister’s instinct was always to look beyond herself. “My sister was always thinking of others and if you want to honor her legacy, show more kindness, lift others up and give more of your time and resources as she continued to do to the very end,” she wrote.
Dolly Parton built a reputation not only as one of country music’s most recognizable voices, but also as one of its most generous figures. Through the Dollywood Foundation, which she launched in 1988, she supported education initiatives in her East Tennessee hometown and later helped cover higher-education costs for Dollywood employees. Her Imagination Library became a signature effort, mailing free books to young children. In 2020, she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University’s COVID-19 research, funding that aided work connected to the Moderna vaccine.
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Dolly Parton died Tuesday following a brief battle with cancer. She was 80. Tributes quickly poured in from across politics and entertainment, with figures including President Trump and her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, honoring the country music legend as an icon whose legacy will never be forgotten.
Questions about Dolly Parton’s health surfaced last October, when her sister Freida Parton asked fans to keep the singer in their prayers. Dolly later said she was OK. In May, she said she was responding well to treatment for medical issues that included kidney stones, though she canceled upcoming Las Vegas shows because she was not yet ready to return to performing.
Born into poverty in rural Tennessee, Dolly Parton was the fourth of 12 children. Stella Parton, the sixth child in the family, also pursued a career in music.
Stella Parton said the sisters shared weekly Tuesday morning coffee dates, a ritual she will deeply miss. Her “Tuesday morning coffee time will never be the same,” she wrote, but Dolly Parton’s “love, respect and goodness will remain.”
“If anyone gets to heaven I’m sure she made it right on time. I know she’s showing out big time, in all her sparkles and shine. That was my sister’s way,” Stella Parton wrote.
