Glen Campbell’s widow says museum brought ‘some purpose out of the horrible time we’d just gone through’
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Glen Campbell’s widow Kim Campbell knew that opening a museum in the country icon’s honor wouldn’t be easy.
“I’ve had all of this memorabilia in my house for 35 years,” Kim told People magazine on Wednesday. “The clothes were hanging in our closet. I always made a special place for the Grammys. When I looked at my walls with all the gold records, I thought, ‘They’re going to be gone. Glen’s gone… They’re going to be gone.’”
The 60-year-old admitted that stripping her home bare of the many treasures reminding her of Campbell was a heart-wrenching experience. However, Kim insisted that she’s now finding joy in knowing that “everyone gets to see them.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She began working on the museum 18 months ago and found the process therapeutic for her.
“I started going through all the memorabilia and realizing what an impact Glen had on so many lives. It started bringing me some comfort and bringing some purpose out of the horrible time we’d just gone through.”
According to the outlet, the 4,000-square-foot space in Nashville highlights rare artifacts, videos and interactive displays that chronicle Campbell’s life, including his impoverished childhood in rural Arkansas, a sudden rise to stardom, as well as his final battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The “Rhinestone Cowboy” singer passed away in 2017 at age 81.
KIRK DOUGLAS AND WIFE ANNE BUYDENS REMAINED DEVOTED, IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER, SAYS PAL
Glen Campbell was married to Kim from m. 1982 until his death in 2017. (Photo by Rick Diamond/WireImage)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kim said the inspiration for the museum came from the man who built Abe’s Garden, the Nashville-based memory-care center where Campbell spent his last days.
“He got to know Glen, and he just said, ‘He’s just had such an incredible career, and I really think it’s just perfectly appropriate for him to have a place here in the heart of tourism,'” Kim said about Mike Shmerling.
A portion of the proceeds from the museum’s ticket prices is being donated to Abe’s Garden.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to the outlet, one of the museum’s most precious artifacts happens to be Campbell’s original guitar. His father, a sharecropper, purchased the instrument out of a Sears-Roebuck catalog for $5 when Campbell, the seventh son of 12 children, was just 4 years old.
“Glen said that once he got that little guitar, he never let it out of his hands,” said Kim.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Glen Campbell and wife Kim Woolen pose for a portrait circa 1993 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images)
SUSAN LUCCI RECALLS HER ‘WIDOW-MAKER’ HEART ATTACK SCARE: ‘I PROBABLY WOULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN UP’
The museum also features a love letter than Campbell wrote to his wife for their 25th anniversary.
“You are the most wonderful woman and a dear-dear-friend my lover my hope my light,” he wrote in 2007.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Glen hadn’t gotten me a card,” said Kim. “So he wrote me one, and it was a total surprise. And it was just so sweet and precious, and it means so much to me. I’m glad to share it with everyone.”
The museum also pays tribute to Campbell’s final years. The museum showcases how the singer was determined to perform despite struggling with the disease. His journey was explored in the documentary “Glen Campbell… I’ll Be Me.”
“When he got that diagnosis, he helped remove the stigma of that disease,” said Kim. “With the film, he helped encourage people by saying, ‘Keep living your life and doing what you love with the people you love.’”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this July 27, 2011 photo, musician Glen Campbell poses for a portrait in Malibu, Calif. Campbell, the grinning, high-pitched entertainer who had such hits as 'Rhinestone Cowboy' and spanned country, pop, television and movies, died Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017. He was 81. Campbell announced in June 2011 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
In 2011, Campbell announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and that it was then in its early stages.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}His last record, titled “Adios,” was released in June 2017. It featured songs that Campbell loved to sing but never recorded, including tunes made famous by Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt and Johnny Cash.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.