She was born in Winnipeg, but first played on the shores of Grassy Narrows, 50 miles north of Kenora, at a Hudson's Bay outpost. In 1950, civilization called, and the Hughes family moved to Kenora, Ontario.
She enrolled in mathematics at University of Waterloo, and then teacher's college at Queen's. Her first posting was to Alderwood CI in Etobicoke.
She finally gave in to some boy who seemed to follow her around (from Kenora, to Waterloo, to Toronto), and was married to Cam Duncan on March 18, 1972.
She taught full-time for 30 years, raised 2 kids, ran the household and still had time to casually ask if you thought you were making good use of your time.