Loretta Lynn Believed God Sent Illness to Help Her Cope with Loss of Son Who Held Dear Place in Her Heart

• Loretta Lynn died at 90 and is survived by her big family that she cherished her whole life.

• She got married at age 14 and gave birth to six kids. The doting mom never regretted it.

• Loretta was hospitalized just before her favorite son died by accident at age 34.

• She later understood that her illness was "God's" help.

Country music legend Loretta Lynn has passed away and leaves behind her five children. Lynn's family announced the news of her passing.

Singer Loretta Lynn's children revealed the tragic news about her passing at the age of 90 on Facebook. The family posted a photo of the Hollywood star playing her guitar while smiling.

"Our precious mom, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning, October 14, in her sleep at home at her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills," the statement read.

The family asked for "privacy" during their grief, adding they would share further details about the memorial at a later stage.

Loretta is survived by her beautiful grown kids and their families. Her last years as a family matriarch were filled with nothing but happiness.

However, there were times when the mother of six suffered after one of her kids tragically died at age 34.

Loretta Met Her Husband When She Was a Teenager

When Loretta was 14, she met her future husband, Oliver Lynn, at a pie supper at her school. He made quite an impression by outbidding everyone else of her pie and later walked her home after she refused a ride in his Jeep.

Loretta said she did not refuse the offer Oliver, nicknamed Mooney, gave her because she was afraid of him. Instead, it was because of his vehicle that she turned him down:

"I wasn't scared of Mooney. He was really nice. I was scared 'cause I'd never seen a car before."

That said, she and Oliver tied the knot a month later in 1948 and relocated to Washington D.C. While there, Oliver made a living as a mechanic and a bronco buster, and his wife raised their kids and took in washing.

When he met Loretta Oliver, he was an Army veteran and a former coal miner. The couple had four children by the time she turned 18 and later welcomed two more.

As a mom who dearly loved her children, Loretta began her singing career by singing lullabies to her brood. In her memoir, "Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner's Daughter," the doting mom talked about her love for her offspring.

The "You Ain't Woman Enough" singer joked about how she stopped having kids in her book but stated that they mean the world to her and bring her joy:

"I love my kids. They are my angels, my God-sent children. My kids make me happy."

Loretta said she was happy she had her children because she could not "imagine life without" them. She still expressed that she was amazed at how she managed to raise them all at such a young age.

Loretta had four daughters, Patsy, Betty, Cissy, and Peggy, and sons, Jack and Ernest. Jack was her eldest child, and he had a special place in her heart.

Jack was a cowboy since childhood and used to be a jockey when he was younger. Loretta described her son as a "quiet" individual and that he barely talked about problems he had.

She said it broke her heart whenever she saw him being sad because all she wanted to do was comfort him. "Of all my kids, he's the one I feel most sentimental about," said the Kentucky native.

The Mom of Six Often Experienced Health Issues

On top of raising her children, Loretta also became busy with work which took its toll on her health. All of that combined led her to the hospital several times, and she had an array of ailments, including undiagnosed blackouts and bleeding ulcers.

In addition, the country music superstar was once hospitalized for exhaustion. Amid that period, she learned that her son Jack had tragically drowned trying to ford a river on horseback.

Loretta was placed in the intensive care unit of a Mount Vernon III hospital. Her husband Oliver drove to IIIinois from their ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, to inform her that their child's body had been discovered in the Duck River.

Upon finding out what had occurred, the "Fist City" singer's long-time personal manager, David Skepner, revealed that she reportedly took the devastating news "fairly well."

Loretta was not immediately told about Jack's death under doctors' instructions because they believed she needed much rest; hence she was placed in intensive care. Skepner dubbed her a warrior:

"Loretta Lynn is an iron woman who will run you and me into the ground any day of the week. She's the strongest human being I have ever met in my life, and she'll probably fare better than the rest of the family."

However, Loretta did not take the news reasonably well after it sunk in. "She tore all to pieces," said her daughter Patsy. During that period, Oliver and Skepner put her mom on a chartered plane to Nashville and then transported her to a local hospital where she would await the day of the funeral.

She joined 325 mourners, including some famous people such as fellow country star Tammy Wynette and her sister, Crystal Gayle. However, the grieving mother seemed to notice no one. She appeared pale and drawn while staring at her late son's coffin.

Loretta wept during the funeral service and the short ride to the family's burial plot at Hurricane Mills. Moments before the casket was lowered to the ground, the doting mom burst into tears, losing her composure.

Her knees buckled. She had to have her husband and the family housekeeper walk her to the car that transported her back to the Nashville hospital. "It's finally hit her," said Skepner.

The Real Reason Why Loretta Got Hospitalized

After mourning her beloved son Jack, Loretta later revealed the main reason she was hospitalized. She told McCall's magazine in February 1985 that she believed the illness she suffered amid Jack's death was "God's way" of helping her cope with the tragedy.

Loretta disclosed that she had been suffering from a seizure and not exhaustion, as the media was informed. When looking back on that solemn period, she said it was God's doing:

"I think the seizure was God's way of saying he's helping me. He's really not letting my mind cope with it yet."

She also divulged that she had dreamt that her other son, Ernest, had died. "He was dead and in the coffin," said Loretta, adding that Ernest told her that she did not "have to worry about Jack anymore" and that he had said to him that he was "fine."

In her book, the icon admitted that she still experienced "sad" and "happy things" inside her that people were not privy to. Loretta noted that she had undergone tremendous changes in her life and felt more of that was to come. "I'm superstitious; I believe in reincarnation," she said.