On March 4, Duncan, beloved husband, father and grandfather and great grandfather, passed away.
Duncan was born in Scotland and lived in Edinburgh until the age of sixteen. He began working in the hotel and restaurant business in Scotland and Paris and on occasion served royalty. He came to America in 1956 at the invitation of his sister Mary, and worked in Highland Springs Resort, and Gilman Hot Springs in California. Then in 1959, he enrolled in cosmetology school where he met his wife (teacher) Marlene. Together they opened several beauty salons. Duncan was a two-year haircutting and hairstylist champion for the State of California and president of the Verdugo Hills Cosmetology Association.
After moving to Bass Lake, he built and operated a Giant Groovy Slide, then moved to Fresno where he got his real estate license and managed rentals. Then in 1977, wanting to live by the ocean, he designed a beautiful two-story home in Los Osos so he could make his dream come true. He learned to sail and navigate and bought a thirty-foot Islander sailboat. After making a run to Baja and to Hawaii with his son and nephew, he bought a Cal 39 and prepared to circumnavigate the globe, leaving Morro Bay in 1992 and returning in 1999.
Duncan was a lifetime member of The Morro Bay Yacht Club and also an avid lawn bowler and member of The Cambria Lawn Bowlers. He was very musically inclined, played the saw and piano by ear, and would make music with glasses, spoons and anything that he could get his hands on. He was a man who could do anything he put his mind to and had a wonderful Scottish sense of humor.
He is survived by his wife Marlene of 63 years, son Marcan McQueen, daughters Cindy Jenkins, and Marcia VanderPoel, eight grandchildren, and six great-grandchilden. He will be missed very much.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to People Helping People of Los Osos or Woods Humane Society.
