Dorothy Jo Hope

Evangelist, Musician, Singer, Songwriter
Born March 29, 1929, Lockhardt, South Carolina - Died Nov. 19, 2008, Sevierville, Tennessee
Daughter of Jake Robert Owens; Sister of Estelle Watson, Louis Owens, John Henry III, Avie Lee, and Bill Owens; Mother of Dale Puckett, Dwight Puckett, and Debbie Jo Puckett; Aunt of Dolly Parton, Stella Parton, Willadeene Parton, Cassie Parton, Randy Parton, Freida Parton, Floyd Parton, Rachel Dennison, Richie Owens, and Jeff Owens.

Learned guitar and banjo as a child and performed with her father the Rev. Jake Owens and her siblings. In the early 1950s, she became a travelling evangelist and provided inspiration to her niece, Dolly Parton, to pursue her own music career. In the late 1960s and early 70s, she co-wrote several songs with Dolly including "Daddy Come and Get Me," "J.J. Sneed," and "Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man." She also recorded albums with the Pell Brothers and Walter Bailes Singers and appeared regularly on the Wheeling Jamboree. Her gospel composition, "Yes I See God," was featured on Dolly's "The Golden Streets of Glory" album and has been covered by many gospel artists. Beginning in the mid-1980s she joined several of her siblings in "The Kin Folks" band that performed regularly at Dollywood.