08/25/2026
Being an E Tenneseean, we all loved Dolly. Its just a part of you when you grow up there. Ill share my story in her honor. Because I was fortunate enough to actually get to know her for a time.
She worked on a project with my mother when I was a young man. Expanding the library at Carson Newman College(now Univ). I got to meet her and was always around during meetings and dinners n such. She was so damn kind to me. Never left me out. Wanted to know everything about what I wanted to be and do when I grew up. Insisted I call her Aunt Dolly, and she better get a hug any time she saw me. And that woman gave awesome hugs. She would always ask about me when she spoke to my mom, all the way through HS and beyond. Even helped me with scholarships for school. I genuinely cried today. Right in front of my coworkers and Drs.Dont care. We've lost a genuine treasure, and Im grateful for how she touched my life.