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‘My sister was always thinking of others,’ Parton’s younger sister Stella wrote in a Facebook tribute
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Music — Emma Joyce
Dolly Parton’s younger sister Stella Parton has shared a moving tribute to the late country music singer on Thursday, revealing that Dolly offered to receive experimental cancer drugs “in the hope of helping others in the future” – an act of kindness and generosity that extended until the end of her life.
“My sister was one of the most generous, thoughtful and kind people I’ve ever known,” Stella wrote in a tribute shared on Facebook on Thursday. “What the world saw is exactly who she was.”
Related: ‘It’s sad to lose a really nice person’: mourners flock to Dollywood after death of Dolly Parton
Stella shared that her sister, who died aged 80 on Tuesday shortly after being diagnosed with cancer, volunteered to undergo experimental medical treatments to help future cancer patients.
“She told me recently that if there was no hope for her, she would still allow her medical team to try experimental drugs in the hope of helping others in the future,” Stella wrote. “My sister was always thinking of others.”
Stella, one of 11 of Parton’s siblings and also a country music singer-songwriter, added that if fans wanted to honour the country music star’s legacy, they should “show more kindness, lift others up and give more of your time and resources as she continued to do to the very end”.
Parton was taken to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville following kidney and autoimmune issues and died surrounded by family.
“If anyone gets to heaven I’m sure she made it right on time,” Stella wrote. “I know she’s showing out big time, in all her sparkles and shine.”
Stella also shared that the sisters had a coffee date over the phone every Tuesday morning “before the sun came up”.
“My Tuesday morning coffee time will never be the same but her love, respect and goodness will remain,” she wrote. “She left the world a better place by being in it so let’s follow her example.”
Related: Dolly Parton fans pay tribute to late country music legend across US – in pictures
Speaking to the Guardian in 2016 , Parton said she had a happy childhood despite being raised with so many siblings in a one-room cabin in Tennessee. “It was crowded! With that many brothers and sisters there was plenty of teasing and fighting but we were all in it together,” she said.
Figures across music, film, politics and beyond have paid tribute to Parton in the days since she died, with fans flocking to her Dollywood theme park in Tennessee and American flags lowered to half-mast nationwide , including at the White House.
“My sister was one of the most generous, thoughtful and kind people I’ve ever known,” Stella wrote in a tribute shared on Facebook on Thursday. “What the world saw is exactly who she was.”
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Emma Joyce. Published 28 Aug 2026, 02:48 am.
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