A memorial service in Freedom Chapel honors Department of Defense Education Activity speech teacher Nicole Duenas at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on Oct. 3, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — A teacher who died last week after a three-year struggle with cancer was remembered Thursday for her infectious laugh and passion for helping children improve their speech.
Nicole Duenas, 47, a speech pathologist for Humphreys’ West Elementary, Central Elementary and Middle schools, died Sept. 25 of complications from ovarian cancer.
“She’s always been a teacher and it’s always been her passion,” her husband, Tony Duenas, told Stars and Stripes at a memorial service attended by about 100 people at the Humphreys’ Freedom Chapel. “She was my spinning instructor, so she was my teacher as well.”
A native of Guam, Nicole Duenas graduated from the University of Guam with an education degree in 1998 and earned her master’s in speech pathology from San Jose State University in 2007, said her husband of 20 years.
Nicole Duenas taught at middle schools on Guam before joining Department of Defense Education Activity at Humphreys last year. In addition to her husband, she is survived by and sons Tyler, 16, Mason, 15, and Logan, 12.
Duenas began her journey in speech pathology early in her career after seeing students struggle with reading.
“She noticed a lot of kids having speech impediments, so that really pulled at her heart,” Tony Duenas said. “She looked up courses for special education and chose that profession. She’s never looked back since.”
Mourners attend a memorial service for Department of Defense Education Activity speech teacher Nicole Duenas in Freedom Chapel at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on Oct. 3, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
Nicole Duenas was also a swallowing specialist at a hospital in Guam, where she attended to stroke patients who had difficulty swallowing food.
Many of Duenas’ patients preferred consuming solid food and would become upset by her recommendation of a liquid diet, her husband said.
“She would be hurt that someone would be mad at her honest evaluation,” Tony Duenas said. “She took it to heart, and I think she was just the kindest person.”
West Elementary principal Edgar Romero described Nicole Duenas as “one of the most dynamic, real people.”
At 4-foot-9, her height “only meant she was closer to the kids and that just made her even more giddy,” Romero said by phone Thursday.
Staff Sgt. Hedilbert Chee, a 2nd Infantry Division motor transport operator, said his 8-year-old daughter was one of Duenas’ speech therapy students and that the two had “lovely conversations” together.
“She was always loving,” Chee said at the service. “My daughter loves her.”
Duenas had a unique, infectious laugh that elevated the moods of colleagues and students, said Romero and Tony Duenas.
“If you knew her, the moment that those kids would hear her laugh or the teachers would hear her laugh, it was already going to be a great day because the woman could laugh at anything and make you smile,” Romero said.
Her husband said she would have liked to be remembered by her loud laughs.
“When she laughed, you couldn’t help but to laugh with her,” he said.
