Irene C. (Conley) Chang, long-time resident of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, passed away peacefully on April 13, 2016 at the age of 92, at Sunrise Assisted Living in Wayland, Massachusetts, her home for the past three years. Her three children, Nadya, Rita, and Victor, the latter both graduates of Hasting High School, and her loving caregiver, Carlos Campos, were by her side. She was the beloved wife of the late Kuo-ho Chang to whom she was married for sixty-five years.
Born April 20, 1923 in Columbus, Ohio, Irene was the daughter of the late Dr. John E. Conley and Helen (Inboden) Arnold of Fort Wayne, Indiana. She earned a baccalaureate degree in Chinese History from the University of Chicago, where she met Kuo-ho Chang, a law student from China. They fell in love and were married in 1948.
They subsequently moved to Parkway Village in Queens New York, where Kuo-ho soon landed a job as a simultaneous interpreter with the United Nations. He would stay there his entire career. Irene accompanied her husband to China in 1951, with Nadya, and again in 1956, after Rita was born. That same year, the family moved into a house they built in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Two years later, Victor was born. In the decades that followed, Irene and Kuo-ho travelled the world with their family, returning to China every two years.
Irene had a passion for, and collected, books, paintings, and objet d’art. She loved reading, history, literature, politics, The New York Times, museums, good conversation, and a glass of white wine with dinner. In addition to cooking, sewing, and gardening, she loved to listen to Irish tenors, American folk singers, and live radio broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera House. She cherished and took joy in her family and close friends. By the time she left Hastings, she had a library of several thousand books, including many first editions.
After an illness in 2012, Irene and Kuo-ho left Hastings-on-Hudson to move into the home of Rita and her family in Natick, MA. There they enjoyed their daughter’s and family’s loving care – and their son-in-law Mark’s excellent cooking. Following Kuo-ho’s death in 2013, Irene moved to Sunrise Assisted Living of Wayland, and later to its memory unit. To ensure Irene had personalized care at all times, the family hired Carlos Campos. The two became very attached to one another.
Irene is survived by her children Nadya Chang, and her husband Michael E. Clancey of Cincinnati, Ohio; Rita Chang and her husband Mark DePuy of Natick, Massachusetts; and Victor Chang and his wife Florence Rondeau of Shrub Oak, New York; her grandchildren Sofia Chang-DePuy, Tess K. Chang, Anya Chang-DePuy, Victoria R. Clancey, Marika L. Clancey, and Trevor Chang, and dear half-sisters, Sue Conley of Florida and Carolyn Taylor of California. She is also survived by her extraordinary care-giver and friend, Carlos Campos of Natick, MA.
A private memorial celebration will be held on May 7 in New York.