ONTARIO
The Western Treasure Valley is mourning the loss of a local woman who was an ardent musician and lover of music, who used to write columns regarding music for years in the Argus Observer.
Joyce McLean, who was known by many as âJoy,â died at the age of 85 on Jan. 31, but her imprint on the music scene in the Western Treasure Valley will carry on.
McLean arrived in the area from Ohio in 1968 with her husband, Fran, who had moved his family after accepting a job to be publisher of the newspaper â a job he held until health reasons forced him to retire in 1997. During the course of his nearly three-decade career, Joy McLeanâs writings began to appear in the Argus. In the 1970s, she was writing a weekly column titled Art & Music, which gave a rundown of all events related to those topics that were happening around the valley. Sometime in the 1980s, that column morphed into âThe Hungry Ear,â in which she would talk about upcoming events, as well as review music.