Dolly Parton and her family held a private memorial service on Monday (Dec. 10) for their late brother Floyd Parton, who passed away on Dec. 6 at the age of 61.
In a statement to People, Dolly Parton said that she and her family sang "Rockin' Years," which Floyd Parton wrote, at the memorial service. She also expressed gratitude for the kindness and well wishes from fans.
"Dolly, and the entire Parton Family, wish to thank everyone for their kindness," the Parton family said in the statement to People. "Yesterday, we laid our sweet baby brother to rest. We all sang his lovely song, 'Rockin' Years,' together as a family at the service to say goodbye to him. He lived a short life of love and beautiful songs."
According to an obituary shared on the Atchley Funeral Home website, Floyd Parton was an avid outdoorsman and a talented cook. In addition to "Rockin' Years," a No. 1 hit for Dolly Parton and Ricky Van Shelton, Parton also penned "Nickel and Dimes," featured on Dolly's 1978 album Heartbreaker.
On Dec. 6, Stella Parton shared a photo of herself and her brother on Twitter, writing "'And Jesus said to him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.' Have a beautiful day on this bright and brisk Thursday. I am spending the day with my beautiful brother Floyd."
“And Jesus said to him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.”
Have a beautiful day on this bright and brisk Thursday. I am spending the day with my beautiful brother Floyd. pic.twitter.com/TTNlZg54YC— Stella Parton (@StellaParton) December 6, 2018
Floyd Parton is survived by his siblings and their spouses as well as several nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the My People Senior Activity Center at 1220 W. Main Street, Sevierville, TN 37862.
