Countrywood Teacher Dies Bianca Chang, a longtime and beloved former first-grade teacher at Countrywood Elementary School, passed away on Saturday, November 22, 2014. "Miss Chang," as she was endearingly called by her pupils and their parents, was born in Shanghai, China in 1939. After enduring, along with her parents and six sisters, the brutal Japanese occupation of Shanghai from 1937- 1945 and the Communist takeover of China in 1949, the family began a new life abroad. First her father, Kuo-shuen "KS" Chang, was smuggled out in late 1949 and found his was to Singapore. There, he became the first editor of and English-language startup newspaper, the Singapore Standard. About a year later his seven daughters, led by their tough and courageous mother, Soo- yee, joined KS in Singapore. In 1954 KS became manager of The New York Times Singapore bereau. With their daughters' future foremost in mind, the family immigrated to the United States in 1956. They were sponsored buy Helen Bonfils, philanthropist and owner/publisher of The Denver Post, and settled in Colorado Springs. KS's first "American job" in the Springs was sports editor, then followed by news editor, of the Free Press. KS had played baseball, refereed Army-Navy brawls called "basketball" in post-WWII Shanghai, and loved playing golf, his leisure passion. His baseball exploits included being a catcher on a local Shanghai team that in early December 1934 played the touring Babe Ruth Gehrig All Stars, managed by Connie Mack. All seven Chang daughters got their degrees at American universities and colleges. After completing high school in Colorado Springs, Bianca got her degree in elementary education from what now is known as the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Following a short stint teaching in California, Bianca in 1964 began her long and devoted tenure teaching first grade at Countrywood, where she imparted her wisdom, guidance, caring and humor to generations of pupils until her retirement in 1994. She sometimes would chuckle reflectively: "I guess I've been at Countrywood a long time. I'm now teaching the children of my former pupils". Teaching certainly was one of Bianca's four passions. Countrywood parents, who initially were awed by Bianca's dramatic positive influence on their older children, sought in every conceivable way to have their younger siblings also taught by "Miss Chang." Bianca's other three passions were her Christian faith, foremost in her life, and her love of opera and origami. In retirement, Bianca taught English on separate occasions at two Chinese universities, where she discreetly seized opportunities to witness her Christian faith. She spent countless hours attending operas at the Met and in Bayreuth (Richard Strauss and Wagner operas were her favorites). She travelled widely, both for pleasure/education and for her Christian mission work. Among her pleasure/educational destinations were Antarctica, the Galapagos, and the East European Baltic States. Always, always was Bianca so grateful for her adopted country America and its freedoms and opportunities she never would have had in China. Bianca also cherished her many diverse friends, both within and without her Christian-faith community. While ever true to her core beliefs and values, Bianca was open to and accepting of everyone. Bianca Chang is survived by her sole surviving sister, Elaine Olson of Denver, Colorado, who will miss her so much, and by 13 nieces and nephews. A memorial service to celebrate Bianca's life-well-lived will be held on Saturday December 13, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. at The Christian Fellowship in Huntington, located at 6 Nassau Road, Huntington, New York. 11743 Donations may be made to Hospice of Suffolk, 101 Laurel Road. East Northport, N.Y. 11731 and or to Countrywood Elementary School, Old Country Road, Huntington Station, New York 11746