Loretta Lynn experienced a great deal of misery before 2 of her children died
In Lynn’s 1976 autobiography turned movie, Coal Miner’s Daughter, she wrote, “My life has run from misery to happiness and sometimes back to misery.”
That was before Lynn’s oldest son, Jack Benny, died in 1984. The 34-year-old left the family ranch on horseback for a ride, as he’d done countless times before. That fateful day, he tried to ford a river but wasn’t successful and drowned. His horse was found standing near where his body was discovered (People).
Notably, Lynn was exhausted and hospitalized before she learned of her son’s death due to a grueling performance schedule. Her husband, Oliver Lynn, traveled to her hospital bedside to deliver the news. Her manager said, “She took it much better than we expected,” adding, “Loretta’s going to be all right.”
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Then, in 2013, Lynn’s oldest child, her daughter, Betty Sue, died from complications of emphysema. “It felt like part of my heart died when she left us. I hated seeing her sick, but I didn’t want to let her go. She was more than a daughter; she was a best friend,” Lynn wrote in a blog post.
“Betty Sue was 63 when we lost her, but that doesn’t matter to a momma,” she shared. “Young or old, no parent should ever have to bury a child. I’ve buried two of mine, and there’s no pain like it.”