Overview of Willadeene Parton’s Life and Family
Willadeene Parton is a poet, author and the older sibling of the famous singer Dolly Parton. She released her first book in 1996 titled Smoky Mountain Memories; stories from the Hearts of the Patron Family talking about her upbringing and family.
Her second book was a cookbook All Day Singing &Dinner on the Ground with recipes she grew up with in 1997. She is a mother of one and lives a private life away from social media. Willadeene and her sisters Dolly, Stella and Cassie were in one gospel group called Garden although they never went mainstream.
Details of Willadeene’s Sister Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton has 25 gold platinum and multi-platinum records, 2 academy award nominations, 25 of her songs made number one spot on the billboard country music charts, 9 grammy awards, 3 music awards and seven academy of country music awards. She co-owns The Dollywood Company and manages entertainment venues like Dollywood theme park, dinner theatre and Splash Country water park.
She has received at least one nomination from the four major annual American entertainment award organization. She has a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and the Living Legend Award from the US library of Congress in 2004. Her podcast Dolly Patron’s America was called the best podcast of 2019 by Forbes magazine.
She opened a theme park near the Great Smoky Mountains in 1986 close to where she grew up with a resort, spa, room for guests with sensory issues, live performances, rides, and food. The park also has a church. The park has received three Golden Ticket awards for excellence in the amusement industry with over three million guests yearly. She founded the Imagination Library as a charity to encourage reading in children and mail books to the home of preschool kids in honor of her father who was illiterate.
In 1964, she met Carl Thomas Dean and renewed their 50th wedding anniversary in 2016.
Willadeene Parton Family Life
Willadeene was born in March 1940 to Avie and Robert. She is the first of 11 siblings; David, Coy, Robert Jr, Stella, Larry, Floyd, Randy, Cassie, and twins Freida and Rachael. The family grew up in a three-bedroom in Sevierville, Tennessee. The children grew up in a musical family as their mother and the tribe were always singing, and playing instruments and would concoct songs. The family grew up in poverty but they were always together.
In 2015, Willadeene and her siblings came together for the release of a TV movie Coat of Many Colors based on their family’s poverty while growing up. Stella is a music and author and her album I Want to Hold You in my Dreams Tonight skyrocketed her career. Randy had a successful music career and passed away in 2021 from cancer.
Floyd was Dolly’s songwriting partner as he was also a musician who died in 2018. Freida was in an oink band and sang backup on Dolly’s albums. She is an ordained minister with a joint chapel and antique store. Rachel was the lead vocalist in the Honey Creek band he started with his brother Randy and Dolly Wing Woman. She went into acting and is known for her role in ABC sitcom 9 to 5. She released the Good-Looking Cooking cookbook with her sister Dolly.