Jo McMullen-Boyer, cheerful and steadfast leader at SCSU's KVSC, dies at 54

ST. CLOUD — Al Neff first met Jo McMullen-Boyer when she was 17 and still a student at Technical High School in St. Cloud.

The longtime DJ, now program director at WXYG "The Goat" in Sauk Rapids, was a graduate assistant at KVSC, St. Cloud State University's student-run educational and community public radio station. At the time, in the late 1980s, he was helping with talent development.

"I spotted Jo instantly as someone with sort of an infinite flow of light through her," Neff said. "She was this very vibrant young person with her striking red hair that amplified the whole picture."

That bright aura that emanated so strongly from McMullen-Boyer never dulled nor dimmed in her 30 years at the station, despite dealing with terminal cancer the past few years. She retired in April and died at her home July 12 at the age of 54.

McMullen-Boyer grew up in St. Cloud, where her father was a chemistry professor, and graduated from SCSU with a mass communications degree in 1991. She started working at KVSC as a student, writing copy and splicing reel-to-reel recordings for the news director.

Around the same time, university administration threatened to cut the radio station's budget. Neff and Kevin Ridley, the station's first manager, mounted what Neff called "gargantuan publicity and fundraising efforts." The campaign saved the radio station but left Ridley burned out. But before he left, Ridley and Neff advocated for McMullen-Boyer to take the helm despite being just 21.

She quickly proved she could lead the station and, during her tenure, she transformed KVSC from a single FM station to a 24-hour-a-day 16,500-watt station that reaches the fringes of the Twin Cities. She also helped cultivate KVSC's small trivia weekend into an annual extravaganza with teams from across the country and world, and solidified the station's place as a staunch supporter of local arts.

In June, McMullen-Boyer was recognized with a lifetime achievement award by the Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations. But after she died, it was her rare ability to connect with colleagues, community partners and the hundreds of students she mentored that people remembered in countless social media posts.

"We all were her family," said Tim Johnson, a former graduate assistant at KVSC who now works for CentraCare. "And I don't use platitudes like that. We all felt we had a special connection with Jo because that's how she made you feel."

Adam Ulbricht, a former student who now works in communications, said he thinks McMullen-Boyer created an experience students can't get elsewhere in the state because of the station's award-winning journalism and the first-rate technology that she obtained through grants and other fundraising.

"There are a ton of private radio stations that would love to have any of the equipment," he said. "What you can do at KVSC is just not available elsewhere. And that's no offense to those other places. That's a testament to Jo's abilities."

KVSC Director of Operations Jim Gray said most people didn't know McMullen-Boyer was sick because her treatment didn't cause many side effects. She was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago around the time her sister, Jamie McMullen, died from cancer.

"That's why she got checked. She was not having any significant symptoms prior to that," he said.

While her diagnosis wasn't a secret, she didn't make a big deal about it because she didn't want to be a downer, Gray said.

"She was the bright light that was in front of everything we were doing," he said. "She was the place — what everyone associated with KVSC was her."

According to her obituary, McMullen-Boyer is survived by her parents James and Mary McMullen of St. Cloud, daughter Fiora Boyer of St. Cloud, significant other Mike Forester of Sauk Rapids and former husband David Boyer of Sauk Rapids. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.