An angel in heaven. Joey Feek died on Friday, March 4, from stage IV cervical cancer. Her husband, Rory, who documented her battle against the disease for several months on his blog, This Life I Live, announced the sad news on his site with an emotional post.
“My wife’s greatest dream came true today. She is in Heaven. The cancer is gone, the pain has ceased and all her tears are dry,” he began. “Joey is in the arms of her beloved brother Justin and using her pretty voice to sing for her savior. At 2:30 this afternoon, as we were gathered around her, holding hands and praying … my precious bride breathed her last. And a moment later took her first breath on the other side.”
Her loving husband shared that several weeks prior to Joey’s death, she received a gift from one of her idols.
“As I held her hand and kissed her goodbye one last time … I was reminded of another dream of hers that came true. A few months ago through gracious help of Kathy Olen, a friend of ours in Nashville, and many others … I had been sent a short video that Dolly Parton had made for Joey,” Rory continued. “From the time she was four years old, Joey had been singing Dolly’s songs and dreamed of one day meeting her. Coat of Many Colors was a regular part of our show and at home she loved to put on Dolly and listen to ‘Hello God,’ ‘When I Sing For Him,’ ‘Me and Little Andy’ and many others. She never got the chance to meet her in person and had no idea that Dolly even knew who she was. But that changed one Friday evening this past November.”
Rory shared a video of Joey watching Parton’s message to her. “We both believe in a higher power. We believe that through God, all things are possible. So you keep prayin’, and I’ll keep prayin’ for you,” the legendary singer said in the clip. Afterward, Joey cried, marveling, “That was better than meeting her.”
“It was the most beautiful moment I have ever been part of,” Rory recalled of the precious memory.
“Though this is, and has been, a time of many tears of sorrow, it has also been a time of countless tears of joy,” he concluded. “There have been too many beautiful moments to count or even begin to share in this blog. But I try. When a person has been through as much pain and struggle as Joey’s been through, you just want it to be over. You want them to not have to hurt anymore, more than you want them to stay with you. And so, it makes the hard job of saying goodbye just a little easier.”
Joey and Rory share a daughter, Indiana. Rory, who is also the dad of two from a previous relationship, plans to move the family back to Tennessee.
“It’s hard for me to imagine being there without Joey, but at the same time … it is where she wants us to be,” he wrote. “It’s where she will be … She’s gonna be in the mint growing beside our back deck, the sweet-corn frozen in our freezer and a million other places that her hand and heart has touched around our little farmhouse and community. Joey will still be with us. Everywhere. So if it’s OK, I’m gonna close, wipe my tears and pack our bags to hit the road headed south. She’s already got a head-start on me.”
According to the couple’s rep, a donation can be sent in lieu of flowers to Joey and Indy at PO Box 5471, Vancouver, WA 98668.
