ANN ARBOR, MI - Joy Alexander Blouin, devoted wife, loving mother, and grandmother died peacefully on July 17 aged 74 surrounded by her family. The cause was complications from pneumonia. A native of Port Huron MI, daughter of John and Mildred Zauner, she graduated from Port Huron High School in 1963 and then from Michigan State University in 1967. She went on to complete a master's degree in Art History (with an interest in Spanish baroque art) at MSU followed by masters in Library science at the University of Michigan.

She remained at UM for the entire of her professional career combining her interests in art history and library science. For nearly twenty years, Joy served as head of the Visual Resources Collection in the department of the History of Art. Those were the days when the teaching of art history depended on quality colored slide reproductions. She oversaw a collection of more than half a million slides housed in the basement of Tappan Hall. Under her direction, the collection expanded to include original photography done by faculty or by staff photographers of obscure and inaccessible works. For many years Joy administered the art history department's annual workshop on Italian Renaissance art at the Villa Corsi Salviati outside Florence, Italy. She was active in the Visual Resources Association (VRA) and served as editor of the VRA Bulletin for 13 years. She also served ex-officio on the VRA board of directors. She was awarded the VRA Distinguished Service Award in 1991. As new technology supplanted the need for reproductions on film, she moved on to become a librarian for the UM School of Art. She served in that position for three years, then retired from the University in 2001.

Aptly named, she brought joy to all who knew her. Beyond art, she had a great interest in cooking. She was a master at preparing dishes of all sorts. A friend once said she was an artist with food. But it was her family that was most important to her. Preparing meals for holidays and other gatherings as well as keeping up on the latest family news sustained her. She was an avid traveler and, along with her loving husband Francis X. Blouin, eagerly explored Europe and Asia. After retirement, she became something of a New Yorker. She and Fran enjoyed frequent trips to their small Manhattan apartment. There she avidly consumed New York culture in art museums, theaters, and restaurants.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Jay Frye Alexander in 1987. She leaves her husband of thirty years, Francis; her wonderful children, Benjamin (Peggy) Alexander of Los Angeles and Tiffany (Bill) Joyce of Ann Arbor; her dear grandchildren, Molly Alexander, and Alexander Joyce; and a brother, John Zauner of Los Altos, CA.

A memorial gathering will be held at Nie Funeral Home, 3767 W. Liberty Rd., on the evening of August 25 from 6:00-8:00. A funeral service will be held at St Andrews Episcopal Church, 306 N. Division St., on August 26 at 11:00 am. Interment at Forest Hills Cemetery will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in her memory to the Humane Society of Washtenaw C ounty or the Breakfast Program at St. Andrew's Church.

Link to Funeral hone: Nie Funeral Home, Ann Arbor, MI

Published: in Ann Arbor News from Aug 4, 2019