Country music legend Dolly Parton’s family is struggling to come to terms with her death, with her niece Heidi Parton saying the loss “still doesn’t feel real”.
Dolly died last month following a brief battle with cancer.
Two weeks after her death, Heidi shared a photograph of herself with Dolly on Instagram, saying she found comfort in having photographs and videos of her aunt.
The photograph was taken on the day they filmed the video for The Gift, which is used as the closing song in Heidi’s show at Dollywood.
“Heidi said seeing Dolly every day on stage through the video was difficult, but she was grateful to have the footage.
Dolly’s private burial
Dolly was buried three days after her death at Nashville’s Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum.
Her cousin, Richie Owens, said the private burial reflected Dolly’s wishes and was deliberately kept small and quiet.
According to Owens, only a few family members attended the burial, which was held beside Dolly’s husband, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 aged 82.
Owens said Dolly had wanted the farewell to be very private and described it as a burial rather than a traditional funeral.
A final tribute to Dolly
Owens said Dolly’s family believed she would prefer people to honour her memory by supporting her charitable work rather than attending an elaborate funeral.
He described Dolly as giving, personable and humorous, saying the personality fans saw publicly was the same one her family knew at home.
Dolly was also known for her charitable work, including her Imagination Library programme.
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