NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Roy Acuff, the 'King of Country Music,' says only a few days ago he told his wife he wanted to die first so he would not be left alone and now her sudden death has left him 'completely lost.'
Mildred Louis Douglas Acuff, 67, was found dead in the bedroom of her Nashville home Wednesday by her husband of 44 years.
She apparently died of a heart attack in her sleep.
'By leaving me alone ... I'm just completely lost,' said Acuff, ten years older than his wife.
'We were talking about that the other night and I told her I wanted to go first,' he said.
Mrs. Acuff managed her husband's business affairs and was vice president and a founder of Acuff-Rose Publishing Co., a music publishing firm.
She enjoyed traveling with him on his tours, but Acuff said she didn't care for being in the spotlight herself.
'She wasn't shy, but she just didn't care for the spotlight,' he said. 'She wanted me to be in the spotlight, but she had no desire to be on the stage. She just shunned it.'
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Acuff is survived by their son, Roy Neill Acuff, and a foster daughter, Thelma Acuff Gossett.
A funeral was set for today and she will be buried in Spring Hill Cemetery beneath a huge ornamental granite and marble marker depicting a raised fiddle and bow. Acuff purchased the double monument several years ago.
