Mary Therese (Finley) McLoone, who with her husband founded Lake Country Publications, died Thursday, Feb. 4, at her home. She was 91.
Born June 30, 1929, to Herbert and Gertude Finley, she grew up in Janesville, Minn., and graduated from the College of St. Teresa in Winona. While in college, she met her future husband, Edward “Jim” McLoone, and they were married June 13, 1953, at Saint Ann Catholic Church in Janesville.
McLoone and her husband moved several times, first for his military training in Oklahoma and later for several newspaper positions. They bought their first newspaper in Stewartville, Minn., and in 1960 relocated to Hartland, Wis.
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After moving to Hartland, Jim and Mary McLoone founded the Lake Country Reporter and its parent company, Lake Country Publications. The company ultimately included four weeklies, one semi-monthly and two shoppers before they sold it in 1990.
Jim McLoone, who was inducted into the Wisconsin Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2002, served as longtime publisher of the Reporter. Their son, John McLoone, publishes the Pierce County Journal in Prescott and the Stanley Republican. The McLoones had eight children in total: Pat, Maureen, Sheila, Katie, John, Mary, James and Bridget.
Due to the pandemic, the family held a private funeral Mass on Thursday, Feb. 11. Memorials in Mary McLoone’s named can be directed to the St. Charles St. Vincent dePaul Society.
