Hundreds attend memorial for Southfield employee

Family and friends of an elderly Southfield woman whose body was found in a burning car during the weekend plan to celebrate her life and share stories today.


Helen Gale's two daughters described their 81-year-old mother as a woman who loved the arts, including the symphony and ballet. They said she enjoyed reading, dining out, spending time with friends and flying in small planes with a friend who is a pilot.


"She was really loved, and a lot of people will really miss her," said daughter Nancy Gale, 48, of Los Angeles.


No funeral will be held because Helen Gale did not want one, said her older daughter, Stephanie Johnson, 53, of Holland.


Instead, friends and family -- including Gale's daughters and three grandchildren -- plan to attend a celebration of her life 2:30-6 p.m. today at the Southfield Parks and Recreation Building, 26000 Evergreen Road, where she worked as a part-time employee until her death.


No arrests have been made, and the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office has yet to determine the cause of death. Dental records were used Tuesday to confirm Gale's identity.


Police continue to process evidence found at Gale's home and in her car, which was found burning Saturday in Highland Park, Southfield police spokesman Lt. Nick Loussia said.


"My biggest fear is she was actually alive when they put the car on fire," Johnson said.


"It's a horrific experience. Thinking of the terror she felt."


The Smiths, musicians who knew Gale from the Southfield concert series Gale used to run, say the last time they dined with her was on Thanksgiving, Nov. 24. On Wednesday afternoon, at the Southfield Parks and Recreation Department inside the Civic Center, they were among hundreds of people mourning the death of the 81-year-old Gale during a memorial.


Highland Park Police discovered Gale’s body in the back of her burning 2005 Honda Accord on Saturday morning, Nov. 26, according to Southfield Police Lt. Nick Loussia.


Someone had gained entry to Gale’s home in the 20200 block of Winchester at some point after Gale had spoken over the phone with her daughter, Nancy, at 7:30 p.m. the night before, according to Southfield Police.


Based on evidence inside the home, there had been a struggle, Loussia said.


Gale, who worked part-time in the Southfield Parks and Recreation Department for 31 years, was remembered by colleagues, friends and family as a devoted mother who was well read and community-oriented. Gale, a widow whose husband Bob died about 10 years ago, is survived by two children and three grandchildren.


“She never judged anybody, accepted everyone, found humor in everything she touched,” said her daughter, Nancy Gale, 48.


Her other daughter, Stephanie Johnson, 53, called her mother an “awesome, awesome person.”


“She was the most awesome woman you could ever meet,” Johnson said. “She was giving, no barriers between her and anything.”


Barbara Hanchin, a Southfield senior, said she used to be a circulation clerk at the Southfield Public Library, where she met Gale.


“I knew she had nursed her husband through a long illness,” Hanchin said. “I’ve been in shock ever since (hearing about Gale’s death).


“I know a lot of older women who live by themselves in Southfield and it’s very scary to think you can’t live in peace without fear for your every move. (With the killer on the loose) it creates a sense of suspicion, a sense of non-community in the neighborhood.”


Two of Gale’s best friends, Claire Raynes and Jeanne Stockman, described themselves as “book buddies” with Gale.


“I’d do audio books and she’d do regular books and we’d talk, recommend books to each other,” Raynes said.


Raynes said Gale liked to work in her yard. Raynes said she worried about Gale’s safety at home after Gale told her someone walked in her house and stole her purse while she worked in the yard earlier this fall.


Gale called police but the purse snatcher was never found, Raynes said.


“She was working in her yard one day, picking up leaves,” Raynes said. “She noticed the garage door opened and the door to the house open. She never saw anyone walk in, but she walked in and the purse was gone.”


Then, just recently, someone stole an extra key to Gale’s home from under a pot in the yard, Raynes said Gale told her.


“We told her to change her locks but she never did,” Raynes said.
Stockman said Gale wouldn’t just let anyone in her home.


“If she didn’t know who was knocking on the door she would never open it,” Stockman said.