Woodlawn Cross Mausoleum in Nashville is perhaps the most revered final resting place for members of the country music genre. George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, Porter Wagoner and more are now laid to rest in the facility. Tammy Wynette is another renowned name interred at Woodlawn, but fans might not know it from her crypt, which reads "Virginia W. Richardson."
Wynette's daughters are now galvanizing fans to help them push for the name on the crypt to be changed. The siblings have started a Facebook group titled A Restoration of Tammy Wynette's Name and Legacy.
"She worked very hard and long her whole life for that name," said Georgette Jones Lennon, Wynette's daughter with George Jones. "That's who she believed she was. That is who she was."
The issue is Wynette left final wishes with her last husband, George Richardson, who claimed to have lost the list. He then sold the rights to Wynette's intellectual property before he himself died during 2010. Richardson's daughter Deidre Richardson Hale is now in legal control of the crypt, and she suggested a name change several years ago. Wynette's daughters were under the impression that the name would be changed to their mother's maiden name, Virginia Wynette Pugh, but the final plaque reflected the connection to Richardson instead.
Wynette's daughters have claimed on multiple occasions that Richardson mishandled their mother's estate, but legal complications have made any sort of lawsuit a near impossibility. It seems they hope at the very least, the Richardson side will be willing to return the Wynette name to the beloved country performer's final resting place.
