Joy Blouin Chandler passed away at St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, TX on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 surrounded by her loving family after a two-month long illness. She was born in Peoria, IL in 1938, the second of five children born to the Rev. Jon W. Blouin and Faith McGarvey Blouin. She was preceded in death by her mother and father, and is survived by her husband, Dr. B. Glenn Chandler, former Director of the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin; son William Chandler, Artistic Manager of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Glasgow, Scotland, his wife, Helen Brew and grandsons, Tom 23, Matt 20 and Luke 17; son Michael Chandler, former Orchestra Director at Springwoods High School, Houston and Mayde Creek High School, Katie, TX, his wife, Gina Villanueva Chandler and their three children, Mia 16, Kyle 13 and Blake 8; daughter Dione Chandler, Adjunct Professor of Oboe at Stetson University in Florida and her husband, Richard Sparrow; and her siblings: Hope Murphy, Jon Blouin, Jr., Gloria Esquivel, and Constance Hawkins.
Joy was endowed with a beautiful soprano voice and sang publicly from childhood throughout her life, most recently in the choir of All Saints Episcopal Church in Austin. She and Glenn met at Samford University in the A Cappella choir after she transferred to Samford from Pensacola in 1959. They were married in August 1961, the summer before their senior year, and graduated together in 1962. Joy’s degree was in voice and sacred music. During Glenn’s graduate studies Joy worked in insurance offices to support the family and at the same time played organ on the weekend in churches in Alabama, Kentucky and Indiana. The family moved to Connecticut in 1972, after Glenn’s doctoral studies at Indiana University, where he began his 47-year college teaching/administrative career. There their children grew up, played soccer, had music lessons, ballet classes, finished high school and went off to college. Interestingly, while Joy and Glenn lived in Connecticut, son William went to graduate school at Rice University to study violin and then played in the Houston Symphony for 6 years before moving to Scotland to become Associate Concertmaster of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Daughter Dione went to Rice for undergraduate studies in oboe before moving on to graduate school at USC; and son Michael went to Houston to teach high school orchestra at Springwoods High School. All this occurring a decade or so before Joy and Glenn moved to Austin.
While in Connecticut, Joy worked at the home office of the Hartford Insurance Company for 21 years as an analyst in the Group Health and Life Department where she was recognized as Employee of the Year. In Connecticut Joy and Glenn served as organist and choirmaster respectively at several churches including the First United Methodist Church in Middletown, South United Methodist Church of Manchester, First Congregational Church in East Hartford, Church of Christ Congregational in Newington, and the United Methodist Church of Hartford. After 22 years in Connecticut and after the children were through school and off on their own, Joy and Glenn moved to Memphis where he was appointed Director of the Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis, and where Joy continued her organ studies while serving as organist at Evergreen Presbyterian Church.
In 2001 Joy and Glenn moved to Austin when he was named Director of the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin, and where Joy accepted the position of organist at University Baptist Church. In 2004 Joy retired from the organ bench so she could travel with Glenn on his many travels connected with his position. During his eleven year tenure as Director of the Butler School she traveled with him nationally and internationally to such places as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Italy, France, Ghana, Tanzania, Beijing, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Greece, UK, Thailand and Singapore, among other destinations. After Glenn’s retirement they increased their international travels until COVID canceled such activities. Their last jaunt was to New Zealand and Australia in fall 2019. Together they have visited some 35 foreign countries and all 50 states.
Joy enjoyed life to the fullest. Although she was a stutterer, that did not deter her from a full social life. She was a runner and earned several trophies for 10K races over the years. She enjoyed exercising, particularly her water aerobics class. She thrived in the Northwest Neighbors Ladies Club, of which she was a past president. She thoroughly enjoyed entertaining in their home over the years, particularly hosting faculty parties, her church choir friends, Northwest Neighbors friends and other groups. She was one of the most appropriately named people on earth. Joy brought joy to all those around her. She will be sorely missed by her family and friends, but the memories of her smile and infectious personality will live on in the minds of all those who knew her. May she rest in peace.
Visiting hours for the public will be Tuesday May 11 from 10:00 am – 12 noon at the Cook-Walden Chapel of the Hills Funeral Home in Austin, followed by a private interment for family at 2:00 pm on the same day at the Cook-Walden Capital Parks Funerals and Cemetery in Pflugerville (greater Austin). A public memorial service will be planned later in the summer post COVID, the date to be determined.
In lieu of flowers, for those that wish, a contribution may be made to:
Joy B Chandler Endowed Scholarship in Organ at the University of Texas at Austin;
All Saints Episcopal Church music program in Austin;
Lang Stuttering Institute: The Moody College of Communication at UT Austin.
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