William "Bill" Chang, 95, of Palos Verdes Estates, California, passed away peacefully while sleeping in his home on July 24, 2022. He would have been 96 years old in September.

William was born on September 15, 1926 in the Hubei province of China where his father was governor and who had played an important role in the Chinese Revolution of 1911. William’s father named his son the Chinese word for “peace”, following many years of political unrest that came after the revolution, and encouraged William to move to the United States where he could live a more peaceful and prosperous life.

William attended university in Detroit, Michigan, studying aeronautical engineering and holds a PhD in Applied Math from the University of Wichita. He also studied at Brooklyn Polytech and MIT. William  worked for various aircraft and aerospace firms, including Beechcraft, Lockheed, Hughes Aircraft, Boeing, and Rockwell International. After retiring from Rockwell International where he worked on the space shuttle, he focused on business and banking and helped found American International Bank. When he eventually retired from banking, he worked at the non-profit organization AAEDE helping Asian entrepreneurs start their businesses.

William's hobbies included flying airplanes, collecting stamps, singing karaoke and playing tennis. He played tennis a few times a week with his friends until he was about 90 years old and only stopped when the group was no longer allowed to play on their normal court.

William also served as President of OCA- Asian Pacific American Advocates (formerly known as Organization of Chinese Americans), President of CESASC (Chinese Engineers and Scientists of Southern California), and was chosen as a California Elector for the Republican Party when Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr were elected to the US Presidency.

William is survived by Margaret, his wife of over 50 years, and by his children, Mark and Kristine, step children Nonie and Leon, and grandchildren Jessica, Elena, Katie, Kaylee, Christian and Emilie.

When asked what inspires him most of all, his answer was simply “compassion”. William lived to serve and help others, and took every opportunity to share his sense of joy, wonder, and enthusiasm for life with his friends, family, and community.

We will miss "Gong Gong" deeply. We will especially miss his kindness, his warm smile that would light up his face every day, and the hugs he gave his grandchildren every day for the past few years.

Please join us on September 15, 2022 at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes for a Celebration of Life Service at 10:30am. Services will be Covid-safe and held outdoors at the Lakeside area. Please RSVP so that we may have enough chairs available.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Bill Chang Memorial Scholarship, given by CESASC: 

CESASC stands for Chinese-American Engineers and Scientists Association of Southern California. Since 1984, CESASC’s Scholarship Program has been running for almost 4 decades and helped more than 400 Chinese American students in pursuit of their dreams. Bill served as the President of CESASC for the term 1999-2000, and served as the Board Chairman for terms 2002-2003 and 2003-2004. He was an important pioneer in many ways in advancing our empowerment in professional, economic, social, and importantly, political arenas for Chinese Americans in Southern California. We are looking to set up a CESASC scholarship fund in his name and continue to support the younger generation of the Chinese American community.

You can find more information about CESASC on their website at the link below:

http://cesasc.org/

If you are interested in making a donation to this scholarship program, you can Zelle the donation to CESASC with the email address cesasc@gmail.com. Please note in the MEMO field that the donation is for The Bill Chang Memorial Scholarship.

If you need a tax deduction for this donation, the easiest way is to make checks payable to "CESASC Scholarship Foundation" (and please note that it is for the Bill Chang Memorial Scholarship), and send to M. Kwok, 5474 West 76th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90045-3208. Further information may be obtained from Shan Lee (slee@kanderpacific.com) Board Chair, or Munson Kwok (munsonak@aol.com) Treasurer of CESASC Scholarship Foundation. We can collect checks payable to the Scholarship Fund at the service in Palos Verdes on Sept 15.

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