Donna Meade Dean & Jimmy Dean

As the legendary country music star, and sausage pioneer, Jimmy Dean is remembered by fans and friends, America is also getting to know more about his wife of many years , Donna Meade Dean.

Jimmy Dean as a singer was best known for his classic hit "Big Bad John" but he was even better known for his Jimmy Dean sausages that became an all-American staple. He grew up dirt poor in Texas and worked his way up to be a star and a a businessman for his family, and his longtime wife Donne Mease paid tribute when reporting that he had passed at the age of 81.

His wife said he died in his home peacefully, and he leaves behind several kids and grandkids, and millions of other kids who will continue to have full bellies thanks to his yummy breakfast sausages!

Donna Meade Dean & Jimmy Dean
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Jimmy Dean, 81, a country-music star known for his smash hit about a workingman hero, "Big Bad John," and an entrepreneur known for his sausage brand, died Sunday. His wife, Donna Meade Dean, said her husband died at their Henrico County, Va., home. Born in 1928, Mr. Dean was raised in poverty in Plainview, Texas, and dropped out of high school after the ninth grade. He went on to a successful entertainment career in the 1950s and '60s that included the nationally televised The Jimmy Dean Show. In 1969, he went into the sausage business, starting the Jimmy Dean Meat Co. in Plainview. He sold the company to the Sara Lee Corp. in 1984.

Donna Meade Dean & Jimmy Dean