How the tragic death of son Jack Benny Lynn left a gaping void in Loretta Lynn's heart
Country music singer Loretta Lynn who is known for her tales of heartbreak and poverty died on Tuesday, October 4. Her family said she took her last breath in her loved ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Her life was dotted with personal tragedies and the icon once said she lost her creativity after losing her son, Jack Benny Lynn, 34, in 1984.
“After I lost my son, I didn’t have nothin’ to write about,” she told The Tennessean. “I’d write one or two, but they wasn’t what I really wanted.” Jack was found dead while trying to cross the Duck River in Hurricane Mills. Expressing the turn of events in her life, Loretta wrote, “My life has run from misery to happiness—and sometimes back to misery.” in her autobiography which was adapted into the blockbuster movie 'Coal Miner's Daughter'.
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How did Jack Benny Lynn die?
Jack, who was the favorite of her six children, mounted his quarter horse, Black Jack, on July 22, 1994, at the 5,000-acre family property, Hurricane Mills, close to Waverly, Tennessee. "I'm goin' ridin," he said to a ranch hand before vanishing into the hills. Around dusk, a horse and rider made an attempt to cross the Lynn spread's frequently perilous Duck river.
A search team led by the sheriff discovered Jack's body close to the water body and the horse standing beneath a river cliff. After Jack's final voyage, Loretta arrived at the Big Chief Auto Truck Plaza outside of Mount Vernon, Illinois, in her modified bus. The diva was unconscious when a member of her crew walked into her suite at the back of the bus to inquire about whether she would want coffee. She was being treated at the Mount Vernon Good Samaritan Hospital's intensive care unit for "exhaustion" when an ambulance arrived.
The terrible news about Jack wasn't revealed to Loretta until the morning of July 26 when her husband Oliver (Mooney) Lynn arrived by car. “She took it much better than we expected,” said her manager of 12 years, David Skepner. “Loretta’s going to be all right,” as stated by People magazine Perhaps so, but over the years Loretta Lynn has had a lot to take—and a lot was taken out of her.
A multimillionaire country music superstar who clawed her way out of poverty as the daughter of a Kentucky coal miner, Loretta established a punishing work schedule that never let up. She spent over 10 months a year on the road performing two shows per night, some of which would go on until 2.30 am. Back in Waverly, there has also been no time for rest. “When I get home,” she has said, “there is so much going on it makes me nervous.” Mooney's responsibility is to oversee the dude ranch, which is open to guests.
Years of financial support and personal sacrifice were made by Loretta on behalf of the family. Ernie Rey's wife gave birth to stillborn twins in 2021; they were buried at Hurricane Mills. Ernie Rey is the second son and plays guitar alongside Loretta. With two daughters and a divorce, Betty is Lynn's oldest child who helped Loretta respond to fan mail. Some of Loretta's productions feature singing by Cissie, a married mother of two. The 20-year-old twin daughter Patsy eloped at the age of 15, closely resembling Loretta's own young marriage at the age of 13. In advertisements for Crisco, Patsy, who is currently divorced as well, and twin sister Peggy, who recently wed, made an appearance. Because of her job and herding the family, Loretta has visited the hospital more than a dozen times for a variety of illnesses, such as bleeding ulcers and unexplained blackouts. Nine years ago she tried to block out her troubles with what she called “pills to put me to sleep.” She overcame her addiction with the aid of a psychiatrist during a stay in Nashville's Park View Hospital but she continued to push the limits of her tenacious vitality. When she collapsed in Mount Vernon, Skepner admitted, “This happened 16 months before.” However, he says, no pills are now involved; “the root cause is exhaustion—there wasn’t anything else wrong.”
'They were very close'
Patsy affirmed her mother's unique affection for Jack. “They were very close,” she said according to People magazine. “It was probably because he took after my dad. Jack enjoyed his alone time and was shy.” Patsy claimed that Jack had Mooney's inclination toward alcohol. He never had a professional career; instead, he worked at the ranch's blacksmith shop and trained horses. Jack was hospitalized for about a year due to issues with his liver and pancreas, as well as a neck injury he got when he was thrown from a horse. There, doctors convinced him to travel with Mooney in the wagon. In Patsy's words, “He straightened up and started taking care of his family,” which included wife Barbara and their four-year-old daughter Jenny and two teenage children by a previous marriage." Surprisingly, Barbara handled the drowning with complete calm. “I have perfect peace about Jack,” Lorretta told Jenny. “This was his time.” She explained his death to Jenny by telling her Jack was in Heaven “riding horses with Jesus.”
Loretta did not fare quite as well. She seemed quiet at first, then Patsy said, "She tore all to pieces." She was promptly transferred to a local hospital where she remained until the funeral at the white-framed Luff-Bowen funeral home in Waverly. Skepner and Mooney then boarded a chartered flight to Nashville to pick her up. As a cassette of Willie Nelson's Amazing Grace and Uncloudy Day played, she joined the 325 mourners, walking as though in a nightmare. Country music icons Tammy Wynette and Loretta's sister Crystal Gayle were among the well-known attendees at the burial but the then 49-year-old Loretta didn't appear to be aware of anyone. She also didn't appear to notice the lavish floral arrangements that adorned the chapel's walls and contained greeting cards from some of the most well-known figures in the entertainment industry, including Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell and the Oak Ridge Boys. She regarded the oak coffin covered in an American flag while looking pale and drawn. The 45-minute service and the brief journey to the family's grave at Hurricane Mills left Loretta in tears. She started crying just as the coffin was about to be lowered to the ground. Her knees gave out, so Mooney and the family housekeeper had to carry her to the car that would take her back to the hospital in Nashville.