Robert Lee Parton: How Did Dolly Parton’s Father Die?

Robert Lee Parton is the father of singer-songwriter, Dolly Parton. Robert’s daughter Dolly Parton is known primarily for her decades-long career in country music. She is also a successful actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman. She co-owns The Dollywood Company, which manages entertainment venues, including the Dollywood theme park, the Splash Country water park, and several dinner theatre venues including The Dolly Parton Stampede and Pirates Voyage.

Robert Lee Parton: Bio Summary

Who Is The Father Of Dolly Parton?

Robert Lee Parton Sr. is the man who gave birth to Dolly Rebecca Parton. Robert was born on 22 March 1921, in Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee, USA. He is the son of William Walter Parton and Bessie Elizabeth Rayfield Parton. He was also known as “Lee”. He grew up in what was then a typical way with farm work being a big part of his childhood.

Robert Lee Parton Sr. abandon school because his circumstances required him to do so. He helped his parents make money to be able to feed the family. He never got to learn how to read and write. His daughter, Dolly said her father was “always kind of ashamed” of the fact that he never learned to read and write. She explained that:

“But it’s not a thing to be ashamed of, because in my daddy’s case, he grew up in a family of fifteen kids, back in the mountains. You had a one-room schoolhouse, and it was sometimes a mile away. Kids had to go to work in the fields to help feed the family. Because of the weather and because of conditions, a lot of kids couldn’t go to school.”

Robert Lee Parton Sr became a farmer and a construction worker. He worked in the mountains of East Tennessee, first as a sharecropper and later tending his own small tobacco farm and acreage. He did construction jobs on the side to supplement the farm’s small income. His wife was Avie Lee Caroline (née Owens; 1923–2003).

Robert Lee Parton Sr. and Avie Lee Owens got married in the year 1939. In the years that followed, the couple expanded their family. They gave birth to 12 children, six boys and six girls. Robert Lee’s wife Avie Lee had 11 pregnancies, the tenth being twins. By age 35, she was a mother of 12 children. She cared for their large family.

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Robert and Avie’s children are Willadeene Parton, David Wilburn Parton, Coy Denver Parton, Dolly Rebecca Parton, Robert Lee Parton Jr., Stella Mae Parton, Cassie Nan Parton, Randel Huston “Randy” Parton, Larry Gerald Parton, twins Floyd Estel Parton and Freida Estelle Parton, and Rachel Ann Parton (Rachel Dennison).

The couple lost one of their sons when he was just a baby. Larry Gerald Parton (2 July 1955- 6 July 1955) died just four days after he was born. Although Larry died, his family always included him. The family was not rich but Robert Lee Parton and his wife Avie Lee Owens did their best to raise their children. Per Dolly Parton’s website,

“Each morning, he left for a hard day’s work in the mountains of East Tennessee carrying with him a green lunchbox that his children affectionately referred to as “Daddy’s dinner bucket.” When his weather-beaten hands opened up that box, his kind heart compelled him to save a portion of his lunch to share with his young children.”

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“When he returned home in the evenings, they were eager to greet him and see what he had saved for them. Oftentimes, it was part of a bologna sandwich or a piece of pie. To most people, a fragment of a sandwich and a stale piece of pie may not seem like much, but the children would take those tasty treats to a hideaway under a blackberry bush and have a picnic fit for a king.”

Robert Lee Parton’s daughter Dolly Parton has spoken about how hard her father had worked to be able to support their large family. She said: “Our sweet Daddy worked so hard for all of us. At night we used to take turns rubbing Daddy’s cracked, hard-working hands with corn silk lotion and we soaked and washed his tired old feet. My sister Willadeene sweetly (and jokingly) dried them with her long beautiful hair.”

ALSO, READ; Larry Gerald Parton: What Happened To Dolly Parton’s Brother?

“If Jesus could wash the feet of his disciples, at least we could do it for Daddy.” Yes, Robert Lee Parton was illiterate but his daughter Dolly Parton has often mentioned that her father was one of the smartest people she had ever known in regards to business and making a profit. Dolly said,

“He was such a smart person. I always thought that if Daddy had an education, there’s no telling what he could have been. Because he knew how to barter, he knew how to bargain. He knew how to make everything work, and he knew how to count money. He knew exactly what everything was worth, how much he was going to make from that tobacco crop, what he could trade, and how he could make it all work.”

ALSO READ: Larry Gerald Parton: What Happened To Dolly Parton’s Brother?

Robert Inspired Dolly’s Imagination Library

Robert Lee Parton’s daughter Dolly Parton who was inspired by her father’s inability to read, launched her Imagination Library, a book gifting program that has mailed more than 70 million free books to children all around the world. According to their website,

“Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children from birth to age five, through funding shared by Dolly Parton and local community partners in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Republic of Ireland.”

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads out there who are with us and looking over us from above! pic.twitter.com/U9jCRixnxu

— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) June 16, 2019

“Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write Dolly started her Imagination Library in 1995 for the children within her home county. Today, her program spans five countries and gifts over 2 million free books each month to children around the world.”

Dolly Parton has mentioned that she began her Imagination Library to honor Robert Lee Parton Sr., her father who never had the chance to learn to read and write. Dolly said, “When I started the Imagination Library, it was to honor my Daddy. My Daddy was so smart but he felt crippled with the fact that he couldn’t read and write.”

ALSO READ: Avie Lee Owens: Cause Of Death, What Happened To Dolly Parton’s Mother

Dolly added: “When I got this idea to do the Imagination Library I wanted to get Daddy involved in it. I wanted him to help me with that so he could take the pride in that and so he did. He got to live long enough to hear the kids call me the Book Lady.”

“I kept telling him, everybody has a different purpose in life, and if nothing else maybe this is why you couldn’t read and write. Maybe God knew a long time ago that I was going to do something that would help millions of kids and people that couldn’t read and write. So I tried to give him that pride.”

How Did Dolly Parton’s Father Die?

Dolly Parton’s father Robert Lee Parton died after several complications of one or more strokes. He died at age 79, on 12 November 2000, at the Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee in Knoxville. He was buried at Angel Hill Cemetery, in Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee, USA.