In 2012, Danielle became an Aircraft Commander and deployed multiple times, including to Kuwait. During her military career, she earned the Combat Action Medal and the Air Medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was also named to the Commodore\u2019s List of Flying Excellence during Undergraduate Pilot Training. According to Shine Girl, she was a Distinguished Graduate of C-5 Initial Qualification, a program that qualifies military pilots to operate the massive C-5 Galaxy aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During her interview with Garden & Gun<\/em>, Danielle described the C-130 as \u201cthe love of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2025, Danielle retired from her position as Chief of Public Affairs for the 118th Wing. Her aunt Dolly was there to attend her retirement ceremony, making the occasion even more meaningful for Danielle and her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Outside of her military career, Danielle has also built her own business. In 2020, she founded Shine Girl, a distillery in Sevierville, Tennessee, continuing her family\u2019s connection to the Smoky Mountains while creating a path of her own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following Dolly\u2019s death, Danielle shared an emotional message with fans and family members who had reached out to offer their condolences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a video posted to Shine Girl\u2019s Facebook page on August 26, Danielle thanked those who had contacted her and reflected on the tremendous loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you to the thousands of you that have reached out to me and offered your condolences,\u201d Danielle said. \u201cI\u2019m with you. The world will never be the same without Dolly Parton in it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Danielle explained that she was incredibly fortunate to have shared five decades of her life with Dolly, noting that the two were 30 years apart in age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She described Dolly not only as her aunt, but also as \u201cmy friend, my aunt, my confidant, my mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Danielle said she would especially miss their early-morning conversations and explained that Dolly had always known her and the other children in the family on a deeply personal level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also recalled one piece of advice from Dolly that stayed with her throughout her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDanielle, if you have the chance to grab one minute of happiness in this world,\u201d Dolly once told her, \u201cyou take it. This world\u2019s hard enough. This life\u2019s hard enough. You be happy when you can be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Danielle went on to remember a time when she was offered a business deal that could have earned her millions of dollars. Although people around her encouraged her to accept the opportunity, Danielle said something about the deal did not feel right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Danielle, Dolly was the one person who completely understood when she decided to turn it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe was the only one who didn\u2019t have heartburn about me saying \u2018no\u2019 to it,\u201d Danielle recalled, adding that \u201cso many people had their panties in a twist except for her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dolly\u2019s response was simple: \u201cYou know what\u2019s right for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That advice, Danielle said, reflected the kind of person Dolly was \u2014 someone who encouraged the people she loved to trust themselves and follow their own path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking at her aunt\u2019s death and the grief surrounding it, Danielle said she believed Dolly would not want her loved ones to remain consumed by sadness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe would not want us wallowing around in grief on it,\u201d Danielle said. \u201cShe would tell me to get my \u2018rear in gear, and get on with it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a fitting message from someone who knew Dolly not only as a global superstar, but as a beloved aunt who played an important role in her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Danielle ended her emotional tribute with a message inspired by the values Dolly passed down to her:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGo out there and be good to one another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Danielle, Dolly Parton\u2019s legacy is not simply about the music, fame, or countless accomplishments. It is also about the lessons she shared with the people closest to her \u2014 and the encouragement to find happiness, trust yourself, and always be kind to others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the wake of country music icon Dolly Parton\u2019s passing this week, many members of her family have been honoring the beloved star and sharing […]<\/a> CONTINUE READING >>><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3573,"href":"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3571\/revisions\/3573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/paxtonhegmann.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-114-1024x536.png\")
Danielle Parton Pays Tribute to Her Late Aunt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n