Margaret Duff Sud, known to all as Peg, passed away peacefully on February 8 at 6:30 a.m. after a courageous, multi-year decline from Alzheimer’s disease. She passed away peacefully in the beloved lake home in Reston that she and her husband Inder built together 50 years ago, surrounded by love from her husband and daughters.

Peg was born on August 27, 1947, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the eldest child of Nick and Ann Duff. She grew up in Maplewood, Minnesota, and treasured frequent trips “up North” to her family’s cabin near Lake Superior, a place that remained sacred to her throughout her life. She graduated from Minnetonka High School before heading east to Vassar College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, with a minor in Psychology, in 1969.

From an early age, Peg knew she wanted to be a high school math teacher, her true calling. After earning her Master of Arts in Teaching from Stanford University in 1970, she began a 14-year career teaching Calculus, Geometry, Algebra, and Trigonometry, first at Campbell High School in California and later at Madison High School in Fairfax County, Virginia. She served as Chair of the Math Department and pioneered a math lab that allowed students to learn at their own pace — an innovative idea ahead of its time.

Peg met Inder in the student dormitories of Stanford’s Lagunita Court. They fell in love there, building a partnership that would last more than five decades. After Inder earned his PhD in 1971 and began working at The World Bank, they moved to the Washington, D.C. area. They were married in July 1972 in the garden of Peg’s grandmother in Minnesota — Peg looked radiant in a bright orange Indian sari, joyfully embracing the merging of their cultures.

After the births of her daughters, Stephanie in 1984 and Pamela in 1985, Peg stepped away from full-time teaching for seven years to focus on raising them. She returned to education in 1991 as the computer specialist at Sunrise Valley Elementary School. At a time when computers were still a new frontier in classrooms, Peg helped usher her school into the digital age. She secured a grant that made Sunrise Valley one of the first schools in the area to have a dedicated computer lab. She retired in 2008, leaving behind a generation of students shaped by her patience, rigor, and quiet encouragement.

Yet Peg’s greatest joy was always her family. She embraced Inder’s extended Indian family as her own, becoming a deeply loved member of a wide and vibrant circle of relatives and friends. Her warmth, openness, and steady kindness transcended geography and culture.

Peg will be remembered for her intellect, her generosity of spirit, and her unwavering positivity. To know her was to feel encouraged, welcomed, and loved. She leaves behind a legacy of learning, kindness, and family that will endure for generations.

Peg is survived by her beloved husband, Inder Sud of Reston, Virginia; her daughters, Stephanie Kater (Adam) and Pamela Harder (Josh); and her cherished grandchildren, Jack, Amy, Lillian, Karina, and Samantha. She is also survived by her siblings, Holly Dowds of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Kathleen “Kat” Duff of Taos, Minnesota; and Chris Duff of Washington, D.C.

A celebration of Peg’s life will be held on Thursday, March 19th at 4:00 p.m. at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Peg Sud Memorial Fund to support students and schools in the district where Peg dedicated much of her career: https://educatefairfax.app.neoncrm.com/forms/the-peg-sug-memorial-fund

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