Alan Noel Hughes

Passed away peacefully on February 20, 2023 following a long life well lived. Alan met and fell in love with Barbara Jean Kenward at university in Reading, England, at the age of 23 when they were both science students. They went on to create a lifelong happy marriage, being completely devoted to each other throughout their adventurous life together. Raised in the devastation and deprivation of World War II and post-wartime England, they married and built a life together in southeast Asia, first in Malaysia and then in Thailand, where they took teaching jobs and enjoyed life in the tropics with all of its colour and light and delicious cuisine. They immigrated to Canada with their two children, after Alan was offered a professorship, and became Canadian citizens in the 1970s. From that point on Canada was always “home”.

Alan was a professor in the chemistry department, Faculty of Arts and Science, at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario for 30 years, also serving as Dean of Science. As well, he taught at Mahidol University (Bangkok, Thailand), Duke University in North Carolina, and the University of Massachusetts, and was a visiting lecturer at several other institutions. He published many papers, and cultivated professional connections, research partnerships and collegial relationships in the science world across the globe. He was a great admirer of the fine minds of science throughout the centuries, and particularly the considerable - and often less visible - contributions of female scientists. Nothing thrilled him more than to teach students or work alongside colleagues that he deemed more intellectually capable than himself.

Alan loved travel and good food. He was truly a citizen of the world, having transcended limited education in his formative years to achieve extraordinary academic and intellectual milestones. He and Barbara made their home in several countries and experienced the joy of learning about different cultures and world views.

He retired to his beloved French Creek on Vancouver Island 24 years ago, from Thunder Bay, Ontario, being called, as so many are, by the natural beauty of the island and its gentle weather. He and Barbara created a happy retirement, and travelled frequently to Thailand and Hawaii, where they cultivated friendships. While Alan loved his work and treated research as a vocation, he always said that retirement was the best career decision he ever made.

Alan served as Barbara’s devoted caregiver for many years, selflessly and without complaint, until she went into long-term care in 2020, after which he visited her faithfully, bringing treats and sitting beside her bed reminiscing about trips taken and adventures had.

He was a strong man, physically and mentally, with a formidable brain, an iron constitution, a skeptical eye and a dry British wit. He led a life of wide horizons, filled with exploration and accomplishment; a long waltz, danced through the decades, with his cherished partner.

Alan is survived by his loving wife Barbara, son John (Julia), daughter Elizabeth, grandchildren Patrick, Alison, and Carys and nieces, nephews, cousins and their families in England, his birthplace.

Thank you for the gifts you bestowed upon us, teaching us resilience, independence, self-reliance, resourcefulness, loyalty, grit and determination. The echos of these lessons will ring inter-generationally.

Be at rest now.

In accordance with Alan’s wishes, a private cremation will take place. Donations in his memory to a diabetes charity would be a fine way to honour his passing.