Jean Anne Chang

Jean A Chang, age 81, passed away peacefully, with her family by her side on December 30, 2024, at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts. She fought a brave battle for the past year, and even until her last day, she never gave up.
Jean was born in Winchester, Massachusetts on February 4, 1943. She grew up and spent her life in Wilmington, Massachusetts. She graduated from Wilmington High School in 1961 and has maintained dear friendships with her childhood friends Rose (Dukus) Henneberger and Terri (Enos) Johnston. Since childhood she played piano and guitar and spent many years singing and playing professionally in a band. The house was always full of music, and she was known for making up hilarious songs on the spot while she accompanied on the piano. She passed her gift of music on to her son who also is an accomplished guitar player and lover of music.
In 1967, Jean married William (Bill) McAuliffe at St Thomas's Church in Wilmington. They moved to Reading briefly before settling in Wilmington, MA. They welcomed their two children, Kerry McAuliffe (7/14/1973) and then Liane McAuliffe (6/27/1974) and they spent over 20 years together on Dadant Drive. They enjoyed skiing together and had amazing adventures sailing throughout the Caribbean.
She later met her current husband, John, while working as the Administrator for Suburban Healthcare Center in Andover, where he was working as a physician. They fell in love and were married at the Danversport Yacht Club on June 18, 1995. Kerry and Liane served as Best Man, and Maid of Honor, respectively. They enjoyed ballroom dancing together with their dance group and spent many nights singing Karaoke together at home with family and friends.
Jean was an extremely accomplished career women and began working at age 16 for a local business in Wilmington. While caring for her family she found time to get her Bachelor's, and then her Master's degrees, from Merrimack College. She had a long career in healthcare where she worked as the Administrator for Suburban Healthcare in Andover, then as the Executive Director of Lawrence General Health Enterprises. She most recently worked as the Executive Director for Andover OB/Gyn where she worked full-time until her 80th birthday. She passed this unwavering work ethic to her daughter who also started working in healthcare at Winchester Family Medical Center at age 16, alongside her mother.
Jean will be remembered for her kindness and generosity. She would always make videos, paintings, or photos for everyone without being asked. She has touched so many lives by creating art for friends and family to commemorate a loss or just to cheer them up.
She will also be remembered for her lifelong love of animals, particularly dogs. Jean and John adopted their first dog Chester shortly after their marriage, and that started an enduring mission of rescuing elderly or abused dogs in need. She would not just adopt one dog, she would adopt three. Since she was so talented in photography, videography, and photoshop, there would always be a new movie about the dogs, most notably "The Chester Show," or "Into the Light," which was a story of how poor Chester went blind and she insisted that he, at age 12, get cataract surgery so he could see again.
She was also an exceptional cook and would prepare gourmet meals while sipping a Manhattan in her kitchen and chatting with family. On Thanksgiving she'd typically dance with the turkey, while saying "Isn't it just beautiful" in her best Julia Child voice. Obviously, she was also quite hilarious.
Jean had so many passions and hobbies, and it seemed that there was nothing that she could not teach herself and master in no time. She started her art career in photography. She could often be found lying on the ground in a teepee in the backyard waiting to get a glimpse of an illusive fox or deer. She later started painting and was exceptionally skilled in watercolors, oil, and acrylics. She had multiple commissioned works and would be up until 3 a.m. painting someone's grandchildren or pets. She became the Director for the Council of Arts in Wilmington and won many awards for her amazing paintings, and even has her artwork featured in a wing of Lawrence General Hospital.
Jean had so many accomplishments and talents, but the one accomplishment that far supersedes them all, is her role as a mother. She loved her children more than anything and could not have been more generous with her love and support. She was always so proud of her children whether it was watching Kerry winning a pool match online or posting constantly on Facebook about Liane flying in jets as a Flight Surgeon, and physician in the Navy. There is nothing that would prevent her from answering the phone whenever her children called and she would always drop everything to help in any way that she could.
She was the cherished wife of John V Chang, and beloved mother of Kerry and Liane McAuliffe. She was the daughter of the late Edward and Anna DeAngelis and sister of the late Edward (Skip) DeAngelis. She is survived by her former
spouse and friend William McAuliffe, her many dear friends, and certainly not least, by her precious dogs Danny, Marley, and Breezie. She will forever be remembered as the kind, generous, brilliant, beautiful, hilarious, talented, and stunningly precious gift to those who were blessed enough to know her.
The family would like to thank the amazing doctors, nurses, and support staff at the Lahey Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the National Institute of Health for their compassionate care and unwavering dedication to finding the cause and hopeful cure of Jean's illness.
Family and friends will gather at the Nichols Funeral Home, 187 Middlesex Ave. (Rte. 62), Wilmington, MA, on Monday, January 6th at 9:30 a.m. immediately followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Thomas of Villanova Church, 126 Middlesex Ave., Wilmington at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow in Wildwood Cemetery, Wilmington. Visiting hours will be held at the funeral home on Sunday, January 5th from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Jean's name to the Beebe Humane Society, 707 Highway 64 West, Beebe, AR. 72012, beebehumanesoc@aol.com (Care of Jaxie Heppner who found many of Jean's dogs over the years.)
To leave a message of condolence for the family please visit our website at www.nicholsfuneralhome.com.