By Paula Day

Friends and family of slain Korean-American lawyer Alexis Gale remember her as a deeply religious young woman who decided to become a lawyer rather than a Carmelite nun because she wanted to do something adventuresome.

The 28-year-old wife and mother was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head at her business in a Roswell office park March 3. Widely regarded in the Korean community, she was the wife of Kenneth Gale and a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Alpharetta.

On March 10 Roswell police issued a composite drawing and description of a man seen in the office park area at the time of the slaying but have release no motive.

“She was a true Christian. She lived her whole life trying to follow Christ,” Gale said of his wife. “She really brought two families from two cultures together and showed what faith and being Catholic can do. Her life showed that barriers caused by cultural differences can be overcome through Christ.” The couple have a two-year-old daughter, Therese Marie.

“She was deeply religious and loved her faith,” said Sister Young Eun Cecilia, OCD, an older sister. “She was upright and very cheerful,” the Carmelite nun continued, “proud to be called a Catholic” at Georgetown law school when she studied law there.

Sister Therese, OCD, first councillor for the Discalced Carmelite community in Little Rock Ark., said as a young woman Hyun-Sook Alexis Chun had considered a vocation to the religious life.

“She had so many gifts and was very prayerful. The church was always close to her.” The nun felt the young woman finally opted to study law because it would allow her to do something “more adventuresome.”

Mrs. Gale came to this country with her family from Seoul, Korea, in 1975. She graduated from Emory University and Georgetown law school and worked for the Atlanta law firm of Smith Gambrell and Russell for two years.

At the time of her death, she was employed as executive vice president and general counsel of the import-export firm of Monami International, Inc. She is the daughter of Soon Heung Chun and Soon-Sup Chun, members of the Korean Martyrs Church in Doraville. Her father is a descendant of one of the martyrs canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1985.

Father John Walsh, a family friend and pastor of St. Pius X Church in Conyers, celebrated the funeral Mass March 7 at the Korean Martyrs Church. Burial was in Georgia Memorial Park Cemetery in Marietta.

At the funeral Mass Marie Gale said her daughter-in-law “was life personified. She was spunky, vivacious.” The couple had “truly learned to prioritize, placing God first, family second and work third,” Mrs. Gale said. “They found time for the rosary and even time to teach little Tess the Hail Mary.”

Captain Joan Krol of the Roswell police said investigators are following up all leads and every aspect of the case. She noted that Mrs. Gale was a real estate lawyer and not involved in criminal law. The young woman was alone in the office at the time of the slaying, which police believe happened after 9:30 a.m. Her purse had been stolen. There was no sign of sexual assault.

A Tess Gale Education Fund is being organized by attorney Robert M. Fink and his wife, Mary. The Finks are close friends of the family. Donations can be sent in the fund’s name to P.O. Box 566394, Atlanta 31156.