Jean Wung Chang's Obituary
Jean Wung Chang, born Jean Han Oi Wung, passed away on October 25, 2024 after a peaceful two weeks in a loving and caring Hospice Home in Kailua, Oahu. Jean was 96 years old. Born in Hilo, Hawaii to parents En Kong and Alicia (Ching) Wung, Jean was preceded in death by her loving husband, Gordon Y.H. Chang, M.D.; her parents; and two younger brothers, Edwin and Clayton Wung. She is survived by her children: Douglas, Valerie, Russell (Eleen), Stuart (Sue Lynn), Christopher (Karen), and Stacie (David Martella); her grandchildren: Jacqueline (Tui Scanlan), Davis (Phuong), Jared (Sera), Kellen, Alicia, Ryan, Reece, and Sean; and her great-grandchildren: Sonia, Len, and Skylar. Jean was the last surviving in her generation of 39 Wung Sam Sing cousins whose parents were born and raised in Kohala, Hawaii Island before the turn of the 20th century. Jean grew up in Hilo and earned her degree in occupational therapy from Milwaukee-Downer College in Wisconsin, where she met life-long friends from Hawaii. She returned to Oahu to work at Queen’s Hospital and soon met her future husband. After a whirlwind romance, Jean and Gordon were married on November 29, 1952. Douglas was born in Hilo while Gordon was serving in Korea as a U.S. Army Medical Doctor. After his return, they moved to Houston, Texas for Gordon’s medical residency, where Valerie was born. Returning to Hawaii, they settled in Honolulu, adding Russell, Stuart, Christopher, and Stacie. Putting aside her chosen profession until her children were grown, raising six children became her greatest feat. She cheered us on at each of our sports, gave us chores to do, and taught us to eat all our food without any waste.
With her love of the outdoors and eating good food, we picked limu at Ewa Beach and Kaaawa, clams in Kaneohe Bay, and pipipi from rocks at any beach. She took us fishing with bamboo poles and crabbing with nets. We dug for sand crabs and collected driftwood in Mokuleia for our bonfires at night. On many vacations to Hilo, she taught us to pick snails in taro patches in Waipio Valley, pick and eat plums, crack macadamia nuts in the basement of her family home, rode horses at our cousin’s ranch and drove at night to view the erupting Kilauea volcanoes! Our days were filled with home-grown papayas in the morning, mango ice cream at night and none can forget her famous Pigs Feet, Lamb Curry Stew, Mango Chutney, or Guava Chiffon Pie. The calamondin tree in our yard was a never-ending source of home-made juice only she could make, and her later years blessed us with home-made lilikoi butter. We grew up visiting or gathering often with loads of aunties, uncles, and cousins and had many picnic potlucks at the beach. Cooking, eating, and loving people were not her only passions. She enjoyed gardening and growing orchids, loved arts and crafts ranging from clay creations, Chinese paint brush art, knitting and creating things from nature. Always on the lookout for dried leaves and flowers, she put together beautiful wreaths, flower arrangements, and pressed leaf and flower greeting cards. She loved building jigsaw puzzles, playing solitaire, doing crosswords and sudoku in the morning newspaper, and even wrote a family historical account in a book published by the Hawaii Chinese History Center while volunteering at the Hawaii Heritage Center. Jean also loved to sing. She sang in the church choir while growing up, and wowed us with her Christmas solos. She sang up to her last days. She loved to sing. You are our sunshine, Mom. We’ll see you when we see you.
To all who loved Jean Wung Chang, we send our love and aloha and celebrate her life on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at Diamond Head Memorial Park Chapel. Visitation 4:00pm. Services 5:00pm. Burial to be held on Friday, November 22, 2024, at 11:30am at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In lieu of gifts, donations can be made to Navian Hawaii, 860 Iwilei Rd, Hono, Hi 96817 or www.navianhawaii.org.
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