THE CHANG FAMILY has served Koloa for almost a century.  Chang Fook Kee (kee is store in Chinese) started as a grocery store on Koloa Road in the 1920s where Surf Shop and Progressive Expressions are located today.

DAN FOOK CHANG (1897 – 1968) was a second-generation Chang of Koloa.  He was born in Kukui`ula near Aepo Reservoir, one of four reservoirs that dot the landscape. He started the family business.

Dan Fook Chang. Circa 1958.. Courtesy Laura Chang Nagao.

 Irma Tam Soong (1912 – 2001), founder of the Hawai`i Chinese History Center, Honolulu, wrote an article dated August 27, 1976, on the Hop Hing Society at Lawa`i that includes Walter Chang and his son David. Soong mentions that Chang Fook’s father was a Hakka from the village of Lai Wee, which the Communists flooded with 200 [sic] feet of water to make a reservoir for water supply in Hong Kong.  With that said, the village no longer exists.

Who was this Hakka from Lai Wee village?  His name was Chong Hing Chang, but research on when he came to Hawai`i, when he was born, when he died, and where he may have been buried has shed no light.  The only concrete lead on C. H. Chang is the birth of his son, Dan Fook, in Kukui`ula in 1897.  He must have come to the South Shore of Kaua`i as a laborer for Koloa Plantation, and when his three-year contract expired joined other Chinese who settled at Kukui`ula, which was a fishing village.

In 1890, the village population was 841 — 668 of whom were Native Hawaiians, 133 were Chinese, and the rest were part-Hawaiian, American, British, French, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Japanese.  By 1896, the population had grown to 1,345 – 892 Native Hawaiians and 294 Chinese.  But in 1910, the Chinese population of the village was back to 133, and in 1920, only 61.

McBryde Sugar Company was established in 1899.  On that note, Kukui`ula as a fishing village predated the sugar company that built its plantation camp at Kukui`ula where Japanese, Puerto Rican, Portuguese, and Filipino laborers and their families lived.

Dan Fook Chang’s obituary listed two brothers – David F. and Henry K. F. – and two sisters – Mrs. Nyuk Ching and Mrs. Pat K. Pang – among those surviving him.  (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 04/05/1968, A12).  With that said, Chong Hing Chang had at least five children.

DAN FOOK AND LUCY HEU CHANG (1901 – 1940) had eight children:  Annie (Wayne) St. Morris & Emma (David) Lau), Honolulu; Walter Tan Choy (Diane), Kaua`i; Stanley T. L. (Wai Hou) & Charles T. L. (Velma), Honolulu; William T. S. (Kuni), Santa Ana, CA, who served in the U. S. Marines.   

Son Edward T. S. (1929 – 1969), Kaua`i,  was the owner and manager of Chang’s Bus Service at the time of his death on May 29, 1969, at age 39. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 06/03/1969, D8)

Also, the 1940 U. S. Census listed Lan Leong, whose age was noted as 17.  

Steven (Jana), Honolulu, was born to Dan Fook and his second wife, Ying Kiu Chang, in 1960.

WALTER TAN CHOY CHANG (1919 -1995), the second son of Dan Fook and Lucy, was completing the third month of his enlistment in the U. S. Army when his father requested for his discharge because of hardship in the family.  That was in 1938 or 1939.  Lucy was ill, and Dan Fook needed Walter’s help.  With Lucy’s death on August 14, 1940, at  age 39, Walter became his father’s assistant, and in the early 1960s, with Dan Fook having moved to Honolulu with his second wife, Walter was the sole manager of the Chang Family business.

With father and son both excellent bakers, the family added a bakery to the grocery store.  From the 1940s to the 1960s, folks from Kekaha to Kapa`a came to Koloa to buy donuts and manju at Chang Bakery.  The bakery was also popular for its bread, custard pie and coconut pie.  The family later added to the bakery a restaurant with six tables.  Longtime residents remember dining out at Chang Restaurant, and remember Walter’s custard and coconut pies.  The bakery and restaurant were in operation until the mid-1960s.

The family opened Chang Tavern during World War II where Pizzetta is located today and provided a friendly gathering place until 1966, when the family decided not to renew the lease. The pool hall in the back was an added enticement to customers.  The television — only black and white at the time —  was an attraction at the bar in the 1950s. Also, the Hamano Poi Factory on Waikomo Road sold fresh poi through a window at the right-hand corner of the tavern.

An advertisement for Chang Fook Kee in Handbook of Chinese in Hawai`i, published in 1950, said:  “Chang Fook, Owner.  P. O. Box 29, Koloa; Phone: 2-B-267.  Bakery, American & Chinese Groceries, Bar Service and Restaurant.”

Walter & Diane Chang, Father & Mother of the Bride, at Laura & Vernon Iwase’s wedding reception at Wailua Marina Restaurant. 1970.  Courtesy Laura Chang Nagao.

Walter, whom townspeople called Ah Choy, was also a mechanic and a bus driver, his father having provided transportation between Koloa and Lihu`e with his Banana Wagon.  Starting the Chang Bus Service in the early 1950s was a logical progression.  A large garage was added to the left of the two-story Chang home on their property on Weliweli Road behind the Chang Fook Store for the school buses. One generation of children rode the Chang school bus, which was in operation until 1984.

With the closing of the bus service, the Chang Family replaced the bus garage with the building that houses Discount Variety Store and other businesses today.  Also, with the Chang Family having a home on Ho`onani Road, across historic Koloa Landing, overlooking Ho`ai Bay, the home on Weliweli Road was turned into a place of business.

For example, Koloa Federal Credit Union was located on the first floor, at the right-front corner of the building from 1984 to the Summer of 2012, when it moved to its present location on Po`ipu Road, as a progression of the merger with Garden Island Federal Credit Union, and its grand opening on Friday, April 12, 2013, as a branch of GIFCU.  With that said, in addition to charging reasonable rent through the years, the Chang Family provided prizes, including the Grand Prizes, at Koloa Credit Union annual meetings for many years.

DAVID CHONG HING CHANG (1949 – 2015), the grandson of Dan Fook Chang and the son of Walter and Diane Yin Tai Chang (1929 – 2010), personified service and aloha.  After his father died in October 1995, David managed the Chang Family business until his sudden death in April 2015.

David was named after his granduncle, David Fook Chang — his grandfather’s brother —

and his great-grandfather, Chong Hing Chang.

David was known for his knowledge of the history of Koloa and its residents. Foremost, he was known and was appreciated for his dedication to the preservation of Maha`ulepu, a land subdivision from the base of Mt. Ha`upu to Waikoloa Bay, a favorite swimming and picnicking destination.  Maha`ulepu is an agricultural district of some 1,000 acres.  Foremost, this area of the South Shore is famous for its sand dunes and craggy sand stone cliffs, valued as the habitat of rare Hawaiian plants, native ducks, birds, and insects; a favorite fishing spot as well as a favorite hunting ground for wild pigs.  Maha`ulepu is also the site of heiaus and Hawaiian graves, and over the years human skeletal remains have been found in the sand dunes.  Indeed, David Chang deeply believed that this pristine piece of our island paradise is sacred and should be preserved.

 David stands in front of the Malama Maha`ulepu Koloa Plantation Days booth with the award certificate to the non-profit organization for winning a prize for its parade walking unit. July 26, 2008.  Karl H. Y. Lo Photo.

 

David’s dedication to the preservation of Maha`ulepu for future generations defined his life.  In 1974, at the age of 25, he, the Wong Sisters — Mokihana, Napua, Paula, and Tamara, who were young adults and teenagers at the time — and like-minded youth of Koloa organized to resist Leadership Homes’ planned development at Maha`ulepu.  They founded `Ohana o Maha`ulepu, and with the support of their parents and the community, stopped the development.  With David still at the vanguard of the resistance against developments in the area, `Ohana o Maha`ulepu evolved into Malama Maha`ulepu (Take Care of Maha`ulepu) in the mid-1980s, with David in leadership roles through the years.  At the time of his death on April 19, 2015, and after the memorial service on May 16, 2015, Malama Maha`ulepu took an active part in the community resistance to the development of Hawai`i Dairy Farms at Maha`ulepu that began in February 2013.*

* January 31, 2019:  News from Hawai`i Dairy Farms — Amy Hennessey, Director of Communications, Ulupono Initiative, wrote: “Though we still believe that Hawaii’s milk should come from Hawaii, it is with deep disappointment that we announce Hawaii Dairy Farms will not continue its plans for a pasture-based dairy farm on Kauai.”

David was a friend to locals and visitors alike, and his unexpected death four years ago at the age of 65 was a shock that saddened legions.  Koloa misses David to this day.

LAURA CHANG NAGAO (1950 –  ) —  David’s younger sister and the surviving child of Walter and Diane Chang — and her family continue the Chang Family legacy of service and aloha in Koloa.

Like David, Laura attended Holy Cross School in Kalaheo from kindergarten to the 8^th grade.  After graduating from Kaua`i High School in 1968, Laura attended Cannon’s School of Business in Honolulu.    

Laura and her husband, Brian Nagao, reside in Puhi, where the family settled in 1992, but she makes regular trips to Koloa to attend to property maintenance and business management.

Brian, now retired from the Water Department of the County of Kaua`i where he was a district water chief, and Laura are the parents of Daytan Nagao and Christyl Nagao, and the grandparents of Kamryn Matsuyama, daughter of Christyl; and Kyndan, Daysen, and KuiLen Nagao, children of Daytan.

–OO–

SOURCES:

Chang, Stephen H. L., Editor-Manager.  Handbook of Chinese in Hawai`i.  Published by American-Chinese Publicity Service.  Honolulu: Printed by W. W. Ahana Printing Co. Ltd., May 1950.

“Help asked in Mahaulepu appeal.”  The Garden Island, 3/3/75, A2:3 ill.

 Honolulu Star-Advertiser.  Obituaries. Various Issues.

HonoluluStar-Bulletin.com.  Obituaries. Various Issues.

Hoverson, Martha, Editor.  Historic Koloa: A Guide, By the Friends of Koloa Community/School Library.  Koloa:  The Friends, 1985.

Koloa: An Oral History of a Kaua`i Community.  Honolulu: Center of Oral History, UH at Manoa, Sept. 1988. 3 vols.

Lo, Catherine, Editor/Project Director.  The Garden Island Index, 1971 – 1980.  Lihue:  Kaua`i Library Association,1987.

Lo, Catherine Pascual. The Chang Family of Koloa:  A Business and Service Odyssey.  Koloa:  K & C Co., 2019.

__________.   The Filipinos of Koloa.  Koloa: K & C Co., 2017.

Lo, Karl H. Y.  Talk Story.  Koloa: May-July 2018.

Maha`ulepu:  Kaua`i’s Heritage Coast – Setting, Resources and History; A Community Project. By Malama Maha`ulepu.  [Koloa:  Malama Maha`ulepu, 2002?]

Nagao, Laura Chang.  Talk Story.  Koloa: July 2018, February – June 2019.

Nagao, Laura Chang.  Miscellany:  Photographs, Notes, Newspaper Clippings, and Other Records.  July 2019, February – May 2019.

“Study of a Fishing Community on the Island of Kaua`i.”  Writer: R. Y. of Koloa.  1939. https:www.localciting.com/mapping-the-territory/kukuiula-kauai/

The Garden Island.   Obituaries.  Various Issues.

TheGardenIsland.com.  Various Issues.

U. S. Census.  1940.

© 2019.  COPYRIGHT Catherine Pascual Lo