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In memory of

Jung-Jung Chang

Reston, VA, USA

May 4, 1941 - August 28, 2019

May 4, 1941 - Aug 28, 2019

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Jung-Jung “JJ” Chang, born May 4, 1941 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, died in the loving embrace of family at home in Reston, Virginia, on August 28, 2019. She was 78. She is survived by her devoted husband Hao Chang of 55 years, their daughters, Constance Chang-Gillespie and Charlotte Chang, sons-in-law Erik Chang-Gillespie and Jim Lastoskie, and grandchildren for whom she was a beloved “Puo-puo,” and in whose laughter, games, songs, hugs, and tiny hands she delighted: Esme and Aengus Chang-Gillespie and Oliver “Ollie” Lastoskie. She is also survived by sisters Meng-Jung Liao, Teresa Chien-Ling King, Tienchi Martin-Liao, and brother Robert Shih-Min Liao. She is reunited in her passing with older brother Michael Shih-Chun Liao, sister-in-law and dear friend Man-Chun Peng, and her mother and father, Ya-Wen Lao Liao and Tsung-Tse Liao.

Jung-Jung left China in 1949 for Taipei, Taiwan where she spent her youth and attended National Taiwan University. After graduation, she flew to Cambridge, MA to reunite with Chang Hao and begin graduate work at Northeastern University. They married at Harvard Memorial Chapel on September 12, 1964. In the early years, they moved frequently, eventually settling down in Columbus, Ohio, where Chang Hao taught at the Ohio State University. There they raised their family until 1998 when they spent seven happy years at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. In 2005, they returned to the U.S. to Reston, VA.

Jung-Jung was unconventional, brilliant, and supremely competent. She excelled in school and sports and everything she put her mind to. She was a stunning beauty with a sense of style. She was creative, resourceful, and meticulous, and she loved her family and friends on a vast scale. JJ did it all -- for years while she raised their young daughters and supported Chang Hao’s career, she worked full-time, at the City of Upper Arlington and later at Asian American Community Services. She ran all aspects of the household and family life, gave to the community, and lovingly cared for her own mother whom she brought over from Taiwan to live close by, until her passing in 1990.

Jung-Jung was a devoted wife and mother and was the center of her family’s world. She and Chang Hao were a constant lifelong unit, and their love, friendship, and never-ending conversation carried them through ups and downs. She played violin and piano alongside her daughters, volunteered in the classroom, and served on the Chinese School board. She carefully planned vacations, bought the girls art supplies she only dreamed of as a child, and let them stay up late to cuddle on the sofa and watch inappropriate tv shows. As a family, they laughed and joked.

In the rare quiet moments, JJ loved classical music and drinking coffee in a cafe with “ambiance.” She wondered at the natural world and enjoyed Japanese gardens, cultivating a weeping juniper next to a stone pagoda in her front yard. She both loved and feared water, from the serenity of the quiet bubbling of a zen fountain, to the drama of a Midwest thunderstorm, to the exquisite view of Clear Water Bay outside her windows in Hong Kong. Sometimes she liked to play basketball in the driveway, dribbling around Chang Hao to shoot a perfect layup.

Jung-Jung was adored and admired by all who knew her. She was known for her deep, sincere caring and concern for all people and animals, for her compassionate and wise counsel, and for always finding a way to help. She had a spirited nature, strong opinions, and points of view on everything from politics to cilantro. She was boundlessly generous, delightfully playful, and possessed a vivid imagination and curiosity for the world. She will be cherished and remembered always as a true one of a kind, endlessly talented, generous, kind, and loving. She is deeply missed.

A celebration of life will be held on February 9, 2020 in Berkeley, CA, from 12-3 at the Brazil Building in Tilden Park. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Doctors Without Borders, an organization with a special place in Jung-Jung’s heart.

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