Joyce Chang

Joyce lived life on her own terms, independent and strong-willed. Born in Qingdao, China on February 5, 1944, the second oldest of 4 children, she grew up in Taipei. She came to the US to study at American University and met her husband of 53 years, Lu Kang. They began their marriage in Virginia (a place they loved so much that they chose the name for their second daughter), catching crabs at Virginia Beach and learning about American culture. On one grocery store trip, they purchased Crisco shortening which featured a picture of fried chicken and were disappointed when they returned home to eat lunch. After Lu landed a job with Argonne National Laboratories, they moved to the Chicago burbs, raising 3 girls. After her third child Joanne, Joyce pursued a career in database administration, landing her first job at Sears. In the early 80s this was a bold move – for a mother to work full-time, commuting to Chicago. Joyce reveled in solving tricky coding problems. During production rollouts she’d go days without sleep, fueled by caffeine and adrenaline. Joyce worked into her 70s, loving the challenge. Joyce was thrilled to host her grandchildren (who called her Lao Lao) for sleepovers, trips to McDonalds (where she allowed kids to drink Coke!) and toy stores. She doted on them, preparing flaky almond bread, pork belly, ducky soup, homemade noodles and dumplings for their visits. Their messes never bothered her; her granddaughter Nova said, “Lao Lao lets me do whatever I want”. Joyce is survived by her husband Lu, daughters Judy Chang (Jeff Mitbo), Virginia Wang (Prosper Wang), Joanne Chang; 9 grandchildren Shane, Luke, Ella Mitbo; Ethan, Mia, Tyler, AJ, Lindsey Wang; Nova Schnakenberg; siblings Lin-Gen, Lin-Sheng, Lin-Lin, numerous nieces/nephews. Preceded in death by her mother Ryan Ru-Kun Chang, father Yi-Yao Chang, son-in-law George Schnakenberg III. If you’d like to make a donation in her memory, consider Sarcoma Foundation https://www.curesarcoma.org.