This is the song that I grew up with, quite different from the Carter Family one that followed it in, I think, 1937.

Will the Circle be Unbroken
1907 Ada Habershon

There are loved ones in the glory,
Whose dear forms you often miss;
When you close your earthly story,
Will you join them in their bliss?

Refrain:
Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, by and by?
In a better home awaiting
In the sky, in the sky?

In the joyous days of childhood,
Oft they told of wondrous love,
Pointed to the dying Savior;
Now they dwell with Him above.

You remember songs of heaven
Which you sang with childish voice,
Do you love the hymns they taught you,
Or are songs of earth your choice?

You can picture happy gath'rings
'Round the fireside long ago,
And you think of tearful partings,
When they left you here below.

One by one their seats were emptied,
One by one they went away;
Here the circle has been broken—
Will it be complete one day?

A newer tear-jerker that I also like:

DEAR BROTHER
Hank Williams, Sr.
(Williams sings harmony to Audrey Williams' lead)

Dear Brother,

Mama left us this morning,
the angels they took her away
She's gone to join Daddy up there in heaven
But we'll meet again someday

Chorus

She left this world with a smile on her face
Whispering her Saviour's name
Dear brother, Mama left us this morning
For that city where there is no pain

As I stood by her bedside those last few moments
I lived my childhood again
I thought of you, brother, and of the old homestead
And my tears, they fell like rain.