The Working Man’s Country Music Singer has died:

Yahoo News Reports:

RICHMOND, Va. – Jimmy Dean, a country music legend for his smash hit about a workingman hero, “Big Bad John,” and an entrepreneur known for his sausage brand, died on Sunday. He was 81.

His wife, Donna Meade Dean, said her husband died at their Henrico County, Va., home.

She told The Associated Press that he had some health problems but was still functioning well, so his death came as a shock. She said he was eating in front of the television. She left the room for a time and came back and he was unresponsive. She said he was pronounced dead at 7:54 p.m.

“He was amazing,” she said. “He had a lot of talents.”

Born in 1928, 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, Dean went into the sausage business, starting the Jimmy Dean Meat Co. in his hometown. He sold the company to Sara Lee Corp. in 1984.

He was also a bit of a Conservative:

In the late ’60s, Dean entered the hog business — something he knew well. His family had butchered hogs, with the young Dean whacking them over the head with the blunt end of an ax. The Dean brothers — Jimmy and Don — ground the meat and their mother seasoned it.

The Jimmy Dean Meat Co. opened with a plant in Plainview. After six months, the company was profitable.

His fortune was estimated at $75 million in the early ’90s.

Having watched other stars fritter away their fortunes, Dean said he learned to be careful with his money.

“I’ve seen so many people in this business that made a fortune,” he told the AP. “They get old and broke and can’t make any money. … I tell you something, … no one’s going to play a benefit for Jimmy Dean.”

Rest in Peace, Mr. Dean. You have more than earned it.

(Fixed headline typo…. Sorry about that….)