Quiet 'angel' made her mark as a singer

Sweet and quiet is how friends and former instructors at Glenbard North High School remember Gayle Dubowski.

But put her in a choir robe and on some risers -- that's where she found her voice.

The 2006 graduate was a mainstay of several choral programs throughout her four years in high school, even scoring a coveted spot her senior year as a member of the school's Gold Tones singing group.

"Here was this sweet, quiet girl with the voice of an angel," said Robin Craig, Dubowski's guidance counselor. "She graced this Earth with a beautiful voice and a serving heart."

The 20-year-old Carol Stream woman was one of five victims shot and killed by a gunman at Northern Illinois University in an Ocean Sciences class Thursday. Dubowski was studying anthropology, friends said.

"I came home from work to cry and lie down for a bit, and try to make sense out of the shootings," Craig said. "That's impossible."

Friends from her choir classes said she surrounded herself with close pals, and while reserved, she was always approachable.

"Usually she was very, very quiet," said classmate Tracy Laluma. "You'd have to talk to her to start the conversation."

Dubowski was a year ahead of Brandy Leckner, but they had gone to school together since Leckner was a kindergartner. She also performed in choir with Dubowski.

"She was a very good singer," Leckner said. "She would talk with us and try to get us younger singers to open up when we sang."

But even in that comfort zone of the choir room, the bashful girl would often have to be prompted by her choir teacher to sing louder.

"She obviously had a passion for music and she sang very well and loved to sing in groups," Laluma said. "But it was soft and Mrs. (Joan) Moore would have to get her to sing louder."

Leckner said Dubowski was gifted, but timid.

"She was really so good," she recalled, "but it was like she doubted herself."

Close friends said once Dubowski had befriended you, you would have a friend for life.

"My favorite memory of Gayle is when we were in elementary school and we had a duet on the glockenspiel," said longtime friend Stephanie Franz. "We were always laughing and fooling around. Gayle was extremely shy, but she was the sweetest person you could ever meet."

Dave Pocta is the youth and family minister at Dubowski's church in Elmhurst. He remembers when she came to his rescue when a summer camp staffing issue arose last year.

"We didn't know if we'd need her at camp and it wasn't until the night before camp started that we learned we needed another counselor, so we called her," Pocta said. "She had already packed her bags in case we called."

Pocta created a memorial page for Dubowski on facebook.com, and the church's Web site, www.chicago church.org, will have updated funeral information, he said. So far, arrangements are pending.

Dubowski is survived by her parents, Joe and Laurel, and a brother, Ryan, Pocta said.