His daughter, Beulah Chang, acknowledges his good condition, telling a story about a recent visit she had with him at Sunnyside Gardens, where he lives in Sunnyvale. "I was sitting in the garden with my father and I noticed the family of another elderly man. They were working with him showing him flashcards of a train, and a house, and a boat, and so on, trying to help him remember these simple things. There sat my father, with a review of a book on John Kennedy, ready to discuss it. I feel so lucky."

This centenarian has not only had a long life, but a large one as well. Like the fictional Forrest Gump, Chang has been present for seminal events in American history. He has had to battle ignorance and prejudice, and in many instances, he has broken the ice for other minorities. Fighting such uphill battles might have made another man bitter and resentful, but the cheerful and open countenance of Chang speaks to the patience and good humor with which he has met his challenges.

Born in America

Chang was born in Oakland, California on Oct. 11, 1903, the first child born to Korean parents in the United States. His father, Chang Hong Bong, had been educated in St. Petersberg, Russia, as were many of the sons of the Korean aristocracy of that time. Hong Bong had come to Washington, D.C., hoping to get help for Korea against the incursions of the Japanese. He was not successful in this attempt (the Japanese occupied Korea in 1910); however, he did manage to receive permission to send for his wife, Chang Soon Sahn. She came aboard one of the first vessels to carry a group of Koreans who wished to immigrate to the U.S. and gave birth to Peter soon after she arrived. She arranged for her baby to stay with friends—the Schutz family—while she joined her husband in Washington. The families agreed that this arrangement should continue for as long as it suited them both, and it suited them for some 10 years. The Schutzes were vegetarians and this naturally shaped Chang's gastronomic tastes.

"After leaving the Schutz family, I found it necessary to readjust to meals with meat. To this day I find fruit and vegetables, soups and nuts more desirable," says Chang.

When Japan took control of Korea in 1910, the Korean delegation in Washington was dissolved but the Changs could not return to Korea. Chang's father established himself in the ginseng trade. There was a great demand for ginseng in Australia, and so Chang's father spent much time there, while his mother maintained a temporary home in Chicago.

In 1913, Mrs. Chang finally returned to California for Chang, who was by then 10 years old. She gave him only 15 minutes to decide whether to remain in Long Beach with the family he had lived with for 10 years or to return to Chicago with her. Chang decided to go with his mother.

Shortly thereafter, Chang Hong Bong decided to move the family, which by now included Chang's two brothers and two sisters, to Shanghai, China. Chang's father believed that despite the fine educations his children could receive in the U.S., they would never have the opportunity to use that education in this country.

"My father had seen in his travels to Washington and other places that 'Orientals' were only employed in menial tasks. He didn't want to educate his children just so they could wear white jackets and carry trays," recalls Chang, referring to the uniform and implements of the serving class.

School in Shanghai

Most of Chang's father's business took place in Australia, but he was not allowed to bring his family with him, as minorities were discouraged from trying to settle there. Instead the family established a home at the International Settlement in Shanghai, so that the children could attend the English schools there. The location was convenient since Shanghai is halfway between Korea and Australia along the China coast, allowing Chang's father to visit home in between business trips.

Chang attended an English school in Shanghai, although he remembers it was difficult to gain admission to the institution.

"The school was established for the benefit of British businessmen whose families had followed them to China. 'Oriental' children were not accepted there. A good friend of my father's took me to meet the headmaster, who was a very strong, very stern man. I was taken into the office and asked some questions. The headmaster was impressed with the education I had received so far. Finally, after much haggling, the school agreed to take me, but they said that 'Chang' would not be acceptable, because it wouldn't look 'right' on the roster that had to be sent back to England every year. It was agreed that my name would be changed to King. That's how I became the first 'Oriental' to attend that school, the Thomas Hanberry School. I found out later that I had broken the ice, and that more 'Orientals' were accepted there after I left." And so began a lifetime of paving the way for others to follow.

In 1920, Chang's father died on board a ship headed for home and was buried in Singapore. Chang worried that he was a burden to his mother, so when he finished school, he struck out on his own, traveling the tremendous distance from Shanghai to Tiensien on foot.

Working World

In Tiensien he applied for a job at the Belmont Hotel. The manager there, an Austrian, had known Chang's father, and was happy to hire him for that reason and the fact that he spoke English so well. Chang became the maitre d'hotel, greeting and dealing with the hotel's English-speaking guests. When he had worked there a little more than a year, a Consul General, Cunningham, who had known both Dr. Schutz and Chang's father, came through the hotel. The man was impressed with Chang and asked if he would like to return to America. General Cunningham arranged for Chang to work on a ship headed for America.

Chang says he received the education of a lifetime while on board the Alicia Haviside, a huge, five-masted barkentine. He learned to navigate and eventually qualified to take the wheel watch as a regular seaman. By the end of his 90-day journey, he was able to pass the tests required for qualification as an AB, or an Able Bodied seaman. The Alicia Haviside docked in Seattle and Chang was back in his homeland.

Homeland or not, Chang was denied a room in a Seattle boardinghouse because they didn't take "Orientals." He went to the shipping commissioner's office to see if he could work for his passage to San Francisco. The person in charge was impressed with his qualifications and got him a berth on the Mary Winkerman. When he walked up the gangplank, the sailors told him that he couldn't be with the other seamen, that he'd have to go down to the galley and assist the Chinese cook. The captain of the ship, however, allowed Chang to do the work he had been trained to do.

The Navy

Once in San Francisco, a friend recommended that he join the Navy, since he was so skilled. The friend told him that there weren't too many "Orientals" in the Navy and that the ones who were employed were servants. He suggested that Chang enlist with the idea of getting into the Naval Academy and breaking the ice for other minorities.

Chang took his friend's advice and was stationed at Goat Island (Yerba Buena) in San Francisco Bay. He knew so much about seamanship that he stayed there a couple of extra months to assist in the training of other men. Much later, during World War II, some of the men he trained had become officers, and they remembered him. Chang thought it strange that he would have been remembered after so many years, but then people always remember a trailblazer.

Sadly, Chang's dream of entering the Naval Academy never materialized. He applied and passed the physical and mental tests, but was ultimately told that it would never do to have an "Oriental" officer serving aboard ship with a white crew. The commanding officer apologized for this and offered his recommendation to any of the top training schools of the Navy.

Chang eventually attended the Advanced Torpedo School at Keyport, Wash. He also attended the Submarine School in San Diego, Calif., where he passed with the highest grades in his class and in fact, the highest marks ever in the history of the school. In this he served as an example to whites and minorities alike.

In 1929 Chang married Helen Lee. She was a friend of his sister's, who had by that time returned to the United States as well. "My mother didn't speak Korean either," says his daughter, Beulah. "I think they were drawn together by the fact that they didn't speak Korean, didn't have an ethnic community they belonged to, but obviously weren't a part of the larger culture either."

In 1935 Chang was assigned to submarine duty at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where Peter Jr. and Beulah were later born. Chang served as an instructor, teaching men to fire torpedoes under any and all conditions. As America's entry into the war seemed more imminent, new submarines were arriving from the mainland without torpedo crews. To resolve this difficulty, Chang was assigned to establish a torpedo school. Still he was passed over for promotion again and again.

Pearl Harbor

Helen Chang grew tired of the shabby treatment shown her husband, and so she wrote a letter to Eleanor Roosevelt, listing his accomplishments and qualifications and pointing out the numerous times he had been denied advancement. Eleanor Roosevelt passed the letter on to the Secretary of the Navy. A new position, that of Chief Warrant Torpedo Officer, was created, and Chang was at last awarded the recognition he so deserved.

Chang doesn't talk about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but his son, Peter Jr., remembers the monstrous airplanes, thundering ceaselessly overhead. Afterward, a jeep came up to the neighborhood to get his father. "We didn't see my father again for six months," recalls Peter Jr. "He was sent out on submarine duty, ultimately joining the Battle of Midway."

Toward the end of the war, many military families were sent back to the mainland to live, and Helen and the children returned to California. Chang was given permission to escort them there aboard a Navy transport, after which he spent a year at Midway Island Submarine Base before transferring to the Fleet Reserve and then the retired list.

Civilian Life

Returning to civilian life, Chang experienced racial barriers once again.

Finding a civilian job was hard going at first, despite Chang's impressive naval record. He applied for a job with the California Department of Motor Vehicles. He took and passed the required exams for a position in the licensing department, only to discover that he was prohibited from working for the state by the constitution. The law regarding minority employment remained on the books until 1949.

A place to live

Undaunted, Chang worked as a carpenter for two years before landing a job with Dalmo Victor, an engineering company. He later worked for Ampex, the Redwood City company, where he was head manufacturing engineer. He remained in this position for 14 years, until his retirement at 65.

Another unhappy instance of post World War II racial prejudice happened when Chang tried to find a place to live in San Francisco. Despite his impressive record in the Navy, no one wanted to rent to his family. According to Beulah, at one point the family was told, "We'll rent to you, but you can't bathe here."

Hoping to find more open minds in the educated community surrounding Stanford, Chang put his family into a Model A Ford and made the trek down the peninsula to Palo Alto. Eventually they managed to buy a home there. Chang lived in that home until just three years ago.

Both of the Chang children ended up at Stanford University. Peter Jr., who now lives in Aptos, earned his law degree there. Beulah, who resides in Mill Valley, went back to school there, earning an M.A. in printmaking.

The years since retirement have been busy for Chang. He and his wife—who died three years ago—were politically active. Chang campaigned for his son's bid for district attorney of Santa Cruz County.

The house in Palo Alto also kept him occupied. "All that I studied and trained for in a variety of skills allowed me to maintain that house. There were endless requirements of electrical repair, plumbing, carpentry and so on..." he says.

In addition to performing household repairs, Chang managed to get a lot of reading in. After he went to live at Sunnyside Gardens, his daughter, Beulah, cleared out the house. She found more than 4,000 books. "My father is largely self-educated," she says. "He's a very curious person, interested in everything."

Chang enjoyed taking care of his home, but is content at Sunnyside. "It's very nice, not a convalescent hospital, but a retirement home," says his daughter. Every day a bus from Avenidas, an adult day-care center in Palo Alto, comes to Sunnyside to pick him up. The center offers exercise programs (which he participates in daily), hot lunch, activities, even travel. Daughter Beulah is enthusiastic about the program. "The staff are so intelligent and loving, they seem in love with their work," she says. "On his 100th birthday they threw him a huge party, with cake and musicians." Chang has been going to Avenidas since before he moved to Sunnyside Gardens. It has been a nice continuity in his life.

What is the secret to his longevity? His daughter laughs when it's suggested that his diet may play a role. "Yes, he grew up eating very little meat," she says, "but as far as I can tell, he eats mostly sugar, now." She thinks it may just be his personality. "My father doesn't stress about things. He doesn't complain and he's genuinely cheerful, really positive. People like to be around him. He's an enjoyable man who really enjoys life."