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The country star once said she would \u201cnever marry again\u201d if her husband died first because she loved him that much. Their marriage thrived despite their contrasting personalities \u2014 her fame and his privacy.<\/p>\n
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Dolly Parton spent nearly 60 years with her husband, Carl Dean, keeping him out of the public eye until his passing. Their love story endured with only rare glimpses of him shared publicly<\/p>\n
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The couple\u2019s love story began in an unexpected place, just as Parton was chasing her dreams. Shortly after moving to Nashville in 1964, the future music star met Dean at a Wishy-Washy laundromat while staying with her Uncle Bill.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019d come to Nashville with dirty clothes. I was in such a hurry to get here \u2014 and after I\u2019d put my clothes in the machine, I started walkin\u2019 down the street, just lookin\u2019 at my new home, and this guy hollered at me, and I waved\u2026 And he came over and, well, it was Carl, my husband,\u201d\u00a0revealed\u00a0Parton in a 1976 interview.<\/p>\n
From that first meeting, Dean was persistent, but Parton remained cautious. She initially refused to go out with him, explaining that she had been taught to be cautious as going with a stranger could be dangerous.<\/p>\n
Instead, the\u00a0music artist\u00a0invited Dean to visit while she babysat her nephew. He showed up daily that week, sitting with her on the porch until she finally agreed to go somewhere with him.<\/p>\n
Parton\u00a0divulged, \u201cHe drove me straight to his folks\u2019 house and introduced me to his mother and daddy. Cause he said he knew right the minute he saw me that that\u2019s the one he wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was 18 when they started seeing each other, and by May 1966, they were married after\u00a0two years of dating\u00a0\u2014 she was 20, and he was 23.<\/p>\n
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Their wedding coincided with a pivotal time in her career, as she had just started working with fellow country singer, Porter Wagoner. For seven years, she toured, recorded, and\u00a0wrote songs with him, gaining widespread recognition through their collaborations.<\/p>\n
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While Parton\u2019s career took off, Dean remained firmly in the background. A Nashville native with an asphalt paving business, he chose to stay out of the spotlight \u2014 even avoiding her performances<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe\u2019s sort of shy and quiet,\u201d she once\u00a0explained\u00a0in another interview. \u201cWhat we have together is so sweet and good that I\u2019d never want it to get jumbled up with the other.\u201d When she felt lonely, she called, and he would visit for a few days.<\/p>\n
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Despite Dean\u2019s preference for privacy, their home was anything but small. The couple lived in Tara, just outside Nashville in a 23-room house on 200 acres, with a mobile home for visiting family.<\/p>\n
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Carl Dean\u2019s house photographed on February 16, 1996 | Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Though she hadn\u2019t ruled out motherhood earlier, Parton\u00a0admitted, \u201cIt\u2019s just not possible for me to bear children and leave them for somebody else to raise while I have a career.\u201d The singer believed that if she waited until she was too old to have kids naturally, adoption would always be an option.<\/p>\n
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Although Parton and Dean built a life away from the spotlight, their bond remained strong. Her glamorous image in the \u201980s never caused tension. \u201cCarl is the one man in my life. I would love to grow old with him. If he should die first, I may never marry again. My love is that deep,\u201d the \u201cJolene\u201d hitmaker\u00a0expressed in a 1981 interview<\/p>\n
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While Parton traveled, Dean stayed home, buying and reselling trucks and tractors. In a 1982 interview, she described him as independent, preferring space to focus on his trading, yet their bond remained unbreakable.<\/p>\n
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Even after decades together, their connection never wavered. In 2015, 48 years into their marriage, Parton\u00a0shared\u00a0the key to their lasting relationship, \u201cThey say that opposites attract, and it\u2019s true. We\u2019re completely opposite, but that\u2019s what makes it fun. I never know what he\u2019s gonna say or do. He\u2019s always surprising me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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She described Dean as a good man with a deep yet quirky personality, someone who made her laugh and was completely secure in himself. Their favorite way to spend time together was to keep things simple.<\/p>\n
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The songwriter divulged that they enjoyed taking trips in their RV, where she could read, cook, and relax in her comfortable clothes, which she\u00a0called\u00a0her \u201cbaby clothes.\u201d Though their time together was centered around simplicity, their routines differe<\/p>\n
Parton explained that while she loved traveling, Dean preferred staying close to home, enjoying short trips but never wanting to be away for long. He was independent and appreciated their time apart as much as their time together.<\/p>\n
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According to her, their relationship worked because they\u00a0had enough in common to balance their differences. Both valued a simple life, where they could relax and enjoy each other\u2019s company.<\/p>\n
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Moreover, beyond their differences, Parton believed that\u00a0laughter played a key role\u00a0in keeping them close. Dean enjoyed music but was not involved in the industry, which gave them separate experiences to share.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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