Dolly Parton’s Family Members Share Their Final Memories With Her on ‘Today’

Dolly Parton‘s family opened up about their close connections to the Hollywood icon after her death.

The entertainment industry was rocked with news of Parton’s death at the age of 80 on August 25. Reps for the Grammy winner confirmed to People that Parton died after a brief and private battle with an unspecified form of cancer. She was laid to rest during a private funeral service in Nashville on Friday, August 28.

On the Thursday, September 3, episode of Today, Parton’s cousin and musical collaborator Richie Owens said the singer’s memorial was more of a burial than a typical funeral service. “It was a burial to be buried beside her husband [Carl Thomas Dean], and she wanted it very small, and a few family members were there,” he explained. “Other people that I’m sure would’ve liked to [have] been there were out doing other things and stuff. So, it was very quiet and very quickly done, and not for any bad reasons whatsoever. It’s just that’s what she wanted. She wanted to keep it very, very private.”

Owens noted that Parton said people should use money they would spend on funeral flowers and put it toward one of her charities, such as the Imagination Library. According to Owens, several of Parton’s closest loved ones were unaware of her cancer battle, including himself.

“She always kept things private because she always wanted to keep everybody being positive around her and put that out there in the world,” he said. “[She was like,] ‘Don’t worry about me. I’m gonna be fine. Show the love.’”

Owens recalled one of his final memories with Parton, sharing that they worked together to track down the style and model of a guitar his father had given her in 1958. He also told the Today hosts that he has not been surprised by the outpouring of love Parton has received worldwide since her passing.

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“How can you not love Dolly? How can you not love her?” he gushed. When all this took place, I just came back from the U.K. doing a tour, and that’s all everybody over there, they wanted to ask about her. She’s loved everywhere.”

Two of Dolly’s nieces, Danielle and Heidi Parton, shared their own final memories with their aunt on Thursday’s episode of the third hour of Today. Heidi said Dolly gave her words of wisdom about her music career last year.

“We talked for about an hour, and she was like, ‘Baby, I’m just gonna tell you this. You’ve got the talent. If you want it go get it.’ I’m like, ‘Yes, ma’am,’” she shared. “We had a really good conversation. She was just so sweet and so supportive, and it was just really precious, ‘cause I hadn’t gotten to do that in so long. So, I really just hold that very close to me now.”

Danielle, for her part, said she and Dolly enjoyed lunch together in February. “We were talking about different stars and how interesting it is that she’s gotten to meet all these other people,” she stated. “And I said, ‘Well, do you ever think of yourself as famous? How do you see yourself?’ She goes, ‘No. I’m still the same kid I was growing up poor.’”

Danielle continued, “We were just regular girls, and we were talking about regular stuff and just life. But she was great. Like Heidi was talking about, her mentor and business conversations, we always talked about that. And she was good about, ‘Trust your gut. You know what’s right for you, and don’t let anybody sway you from it.’”

Danielle also shared more details about Dolly’s burial, describing her aunt as looking “beautiful and peaceful.” The women also weighed in on fans petitioning for Nashville’s airport to be renamed in Dolly’s honor.

“I think it’s great. Danielle’s an amazing pilot. What’s your take on that, cousin?” Heidi said. Danielle replied, “Well, I mean, I’m not in charge of naming airports, but if that’s what the people want, we should do it. … They’ve talked about that for years, and she didn’t think it was a serious thing. And then, in the few days after she passed, they had all those signatures. So, I’m all for it. I can’t wait to see what the three-letter identifier is.”

Poking fun at Dolly’s famously large breasts, Danielle joked that the airport’s three-letter identifier should be “DDD.”

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