Country singer Loretta Lynn's ranch foreman was not due to work on Saturday when he was swept to death by rising floodwaters at the star's Tennessee property, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Wayne Spears, 70, is among the 22 people killed in the catastrophic floods that came after 17 inches of rain fell over parts of the state in a 24-hour period.
The ranch worker was pictured moments before his death clinging onto a beam at Lynn's ranch in Hurricane Mills after getting caught in rushing waters while checking on his equipment.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Wayne's widow, Louise Spears, described what turned out be the couple's final moments together, just a week shy of their 43rd wedding anniversary.
She said Wayne had woken up early that morning to make sure everything at the ranch was okay after it had been battered by torrential rain the previous night.
Louise Spears (pictured) described her husband Wayne's final moments in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com
The 70-year-old ranch foreman (pictured left with Loretta Lynn) was killed after being swept away by rising floodwaters on Saturday while checking on his equipment on country singer's Hurricane Mills ranch in Tennessee
This distressing photo shows Wayne Spears moments before he was swept to his death during a flood that hit the singer's property
'He came back home and was surprised,' Louise told DailyMail.com. 'He said: "You're not going to believe this, all this rain we've had, there was no water out of the creek, nothing, everything is fine."'
So he sat down to have breakfast, a rarity for him. She microwaved him a Jimmy Dean sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit.
'He asked me why I got the ones with cheese on it because I know he doesn't like cheese,' she laughed. 'And I said take it off when you eat it.'
'It was still raining out,' she noted. 'That's when I remember him saying: "I'm going to go back again to see how things are up there, to check on the tractor."
'He asked me if I wanted to go with him, and I said, no, it's raining. And he walked over and kissed me and said I'll be back in a little bit.'
It would be the last time she'd see him.
As of Tuesday morning, at least 22 people have been killed and 10 others are missing as a result of the catastrophic flooding.
Among those killed were two seven-month-old twins and a mother who drowned while livestreaming the chaos on Facebook.
Wayne, who had worked on the ranch for 18 years, hopped on his tractor around 11am when water was just barely pooling under his wheels, Lynn's grandson and ranch manager Anthony Brutto said.
Louise said her husband returned after visiting the property early that morning but decided to go back out in the rain a second time and never came back. Pictured: Wayne Spears' family members Mandi Wertman, 34, Jack Spears, 67, Louise Spears, and Denise Spears, 45, at the Loretta Lynn ranch
Recalling their final moments together, Louise said Wayne kissed her and said he'd return 'in a little bit' before heading out into the rain
Wayne and his wife have a combined 11 children, many of whom were staying on site in cabins as they prepared for a funeral on Wednesday
Suddenly, the floodwaters rushed in. The wheels floated in rising water, and the top-heavy tractor toppled over.
Wayne grabbed onto a beam of a nearby structure before he was swept to his death.
'It was like a levee broke,' Brutto told DailyMail.com. 'Instead of there being a gradual rise, it turned into a wall of water.'
'It's like the water just bottlenecked someplace and all of it came through at once,' Louise explained.
She spent all day Saturday parked in her Jeep
