Today would have been Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn’s 99th birthday—the hard-drinking, unfaithful, sometimes violent husband Loretta Lynn nonetheless called the love of her life. The coal miner’s son she married at 15 gave her a guitar, pushed her onto stages, and left his fingerprints on every song she ever wrote, with Lynn once telling CBS, “I never wrote a song that he wasn’t in.”
“I married Doo when I wasn’t but a child, and he was my life from that day on,” Lynn wrote in her Still Woman Enough: A Memoir. “He thought I was something special, more special than anyone else in the world, and never let me forget it. That belief would be hard to shove out the door. Doo was my security, my safety net.”
Oliver Lynn was born August 27, 1926, in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, not far from where the country singer grew up. She famously sang about being a coal miner’s daughter and became a coal miner’s wife. Her husband was born into a coal-mining family and worked in the mines himself. He later served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, he earned the nickname “Mooney” because he sold moonshine—and later “Doolittle” (or Doo). Butcher Hollow locals thought his nickname was “Doolittle” because he didn’t do much of anything. However, his wife denied that it was the truth and shortened the nickname to Doo.
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From Coal Miner to Loretta Lynn’s Husband
Doo was about six years older than Lynn. Early stories reported that Lynn was only 13 when they got together, but court records showed she was 15, and he was 21. They married after knowing each other for about a month. They left Kentucky for the Pacific Northwest, where Doo worked in logging while Lynn raised their six children: Betty Sue, Jack Benny, Ernest Ray, Clara Marie, and twins Peggy Jean and Patsy Eileen.
Doo bought Lynn her first guitar and encouraged her to write songs. He drove her to shows, watched as people connected with her talent, and then later hand-delivered her records to radio stations. The singer often said that without his encouragement and vision, she wouldn’t have professionally pursued a music career.
“In most ways, Doo has been a good husband,” she wrote in her memoir. “He’s worked hard all his life to get things for me and the kids. I don’t want to say he’s never fooled around, or gotten drunk, or whipped me into line a little, because that ain’t the truth. There were plenty of bad moments in our marriage, but I’ve always respected my husband’s common sense… I feel safe when he’s around.”
Lynn even joked about his abuse, saying that “Every time Doo smacked me, he got smacked twice.”
The tension in their marriage fed her songs, including “Fist City” and “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind).”
Tension in the Marriage Fed Loretta Lynn’s Songs
In the 1990s, Doo’s lifestyle caught up with him, and his health declined due to diabetes, heart disease, and other complications. Lynn stepped back from touring to take care of him. He died on August 22, 1996, just shy of his 70th birthday and their 50th wedding anniversary.
“When I lost my husband, I just didn’t want to work so hard anymore,” she said. “I hate that I didn’t quit things a lot more before he was gone. I stayed home for six years to take care of him, but at some point, I also felt I had to go back to work.”
On what would have been their 74th wedding anniversary, Lynn wrote: “74 years ago, my life changed forever when I married Doolittle … We had 48 years together, and I sure wish he was still here! I miss him.”
Loretta Lynn died on October 4, 2022, at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. She was 90 years old.
(Photo by Fotos International/Getty Images)
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