Utah man serenaded by Dolly Parton in final wish dies of colon cancer at 48

LeGrand Gold, a father of five living from Utah who idolized Dolly Parton and was serenaded by the country legend just before Christmas, has died after a two-year battle with colon cancer, according to an obituary written by largely by himself. He was 48.

Gold died of cancer on Feb. 8, according to the obituary, which described the Orem man as "someone you could always fall back on."

Gold, who went by the initials, L.G., spoke with Parton through video call last December, fulfilling a life long dream. The country music legend expressed appreciation for years of appreciating her work in the video posted to YouTube on Dec. 22, 2023.

"I really do thank you for shooting out the word that you’d like to talk to me," Parton said. "I’m just happy that we got to kind of have our journey together in this lifetime. I always want to make people happy with my music and with the things I do and the things I say, and I’m just happy to know that I’ve touched your life in some way so thank you for honoring me with that."

'I will always love you':See Dolly Parton grant Utah man's dying wish to meet her

Who was L.G. Gold?

Gold was a computer programmer and was married to his wife, Alice Gold, for 26 years.

His family wrote Gold's obituary in first person because he had put off writing it "one day too long." In it, they emphasized Gold's famous sense of humor so that his loved ones "might remember how he could make just about anybody laugh.

"I have finally succumbed to a poorly dealt hand, consisting of colon cancer, a really big thigh zit, a little bit of liver failure, and Alice," the obituary says before going on to talk about his love of basketball, national parks, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and of course, Parton.

The obituary says his five children − Abigail, Sophia, Bella, Caroline and Maximus − "are my biggest accomplishment, and my most diverse collection."

"Alice likes to say they worship the ground I walk on, but I haven’t noticed," it reads. "I’ve been too busy admiring the stars that they reach for."

Parton sang 'I will always love you' in video call

Back in December when Gold got to meet Parton in a video call, he got to tell the "Jolene" singer that she had been "a huge help" in his life, "especially these past two years."

In a video captured by Alice, Parton wished L.G. a good Christmas and and sang part of her iconic 1973 song, "I Will Always Love You."

"I will always love L.G." she sang.

At the time, Gold told local station KSL-TV that his doctors had recently told him his cancer treatment was no longer having an effect, so he decided to write a bucket list of things he still wanted to do. One of them was meeting Parton.

“I thought, ‘Well, it’s never going to happen,’” he told the station.

But Parton got word of Gold's wish and came through for him, just in time for Christmas, chatting with him on Dec. 22.

'Grounding rock of his family and adored by all'

Gold was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer in 2021 despite being in relatively good health, according to his GoFundMe page. He endured a brutal chemotherapy journey in the following years.

His family has reached over $23,000 in donations as of Friday. His family will remember Gold for his positive spirit, generosity and humor.

"He is a sweet-tempered and a quiet man but always has the best comedic timing and never fails to make you laugh," the GoFundMe page said. "He is the grounding rock of his family and adored by all."