Jimmy Dean, a country singer star who was perhaps best known for his sausage brand, has died at 81.

"I loved music since the Seth Ward Baptist Church outside of Plainview (Texas)." he said in a 2004 interview. He also gave some colorful quotes to Esquire in a 2001 interview.

--Being a Baptist won't keep you from sinning, but it'll sure ... keep you from enjoying it.

--Do what you say you're going to do. And try to do it a little better than you said you would.
God is bigger than people think.

--My favorite song? "Amazing Grace." Anybody singing it. But the best it'll ever be done is by the Scottish National Pipe band and their National Orchestra. It'll bring tears to your eyes.

In 2008, Dean donated 1 million dollars to Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas.

“Poverty was the greatest motivating factor in my life. They laughed at the clothes I had to wear to school and the house we lived in. But what they did, unbeknownst to them, was they lit a fire in here,” Dean said at a university luncheon. “And for a long time, I’d say, ‘One day, I’ll show you.’ That was a great driving force in me.

In 1969, Dean started the Jimmy Dean Meat Company in Texas. He sold the company to the Sara Lee Corporaton in 1984. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of fame earlier this year.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey on June 14, 2010 10:41AM