Georgia's Romanian community mourns teacher killed in Apalachee shooting

Cristina Irimie liked to dance.

Nicolae Clempus remembers the first time he saw her perform a traditional dance at a Romanian festival in Lilburn, Georgia.

"It was a joy seeing her dancing," he said.

It's among the memories of 53-year-old Irimie that flood through Georgia's tight-knit Romanian Orthodox community days after her death in the shooting at Apalachee High School. Three others were killed – 39-year-old Richard Aspinwall, a fellow math teacher and football defensive coordinator, and 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. Eight students and a teacher injured in the shooting are expected to recover fully.

In the wake of Irimie's death, two churches are pulling together to grieve and reflect.

As reports of the shooting spread on Wednesday, Clempus' phone lit up with worried calls and frantic questions.

The high school is just 10 miles from Saint Mary Romanian Orthodox Church, where Clempus is a pastor, at "the core area" of the area's Romanian community, he said.

The suspect, 14-year-old Colt Gray, surrendered after officers entered the school. Gray faces murder charges and will be charged as an adult. He remained silent as he faced a judge for the first time on Friday morning. His father, Colin Gray, 54, was also arrested on multiple charges in connection with the attack, including involuntary manslaughter and two counts of second-degree murder. The elder Gray also appeared in court on Friday morning.

'Always a smile on her face'

Irimie was a member of Saints Constantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Church, Saint Mary's sister church.

Clempus first met Irimie and her husband Dorin when the couple moved to Georgia from Romania 23 years ago. Irimie soon became a familiar face, volunteering generous hours to teach the kids traditional dance or tutor them in math. She also joined other women in the church kitchen to prepare traditional foods, Clempus said. For the twice-yearly Romanian festivals, she helped the children prepare a dance showcase.

Silvia Pasch, 66, a fellow church member from nearby Lawrenceville who works as a software engineer, remembered Irimie working through math problems with the kids as they ran through dance rehearsal.

"I said to her, 'Hey, Cristina, I might take some lessons from you,'" Pasch said.

Whatever the occasion, Irimie brought her sense of humor and infectious laugh.

"She was joking all the time... always a smile on her face and just enjoying life, planning for the future," Clempus said. "Unfortunately, everything stopped."

Churches are essential social connectors for Georgia's small Romanian immigrant community, said Pasch. "Going to the middle of nowhere and not to have a church – you wouldn't do it," she said.

More:Colt Gray, 14, identified as suspect in Apalachee High School shooting: What we know

Church members gather support for Irimie's family

In July, Irimie's mother visited from Romania and the family took a trip to the Dominican Republic, Pasch said. "She posted the pictures with her mom and husband," Pasch said. "She was so happy."

In the wake of the shooting, Dorin Irimie "shut down, and we couldn't talk to him," Clempus said. "He's devastated."

Dorin Irimie asked the church to hold announcements of her death until he could reach her family, then asleep in Romania, Clempus said. The Romanian ambassador in Washington, D.C., also contacted Clempus to offer condolences for Irimie, a Romanian citizen.

"It's going to be a long process of recovery for him, but we are here for him, and he has a lot of a lot of friends and community members that are going to step in to help him to go through this," he said.

In the Romanian Orthodox tradition, the funeral process stretches over multiple ceremonies with special prayers, Pasch said. Church members will prepare koliva, a traditional cake made of wheat and nuts and served at funerals.

As the fall Romanian festival approaches in mid-October, the hole made by Irimie's absence will be palpable. "You can't not think of her at this time," Pasch said.

Clempus said the two churches are grappling with the combined shock of the shooting so close to home and Irimie's loss.

"We are united in our grief," he said. "We can go through this by remembering Christina, by being close to her family, but also healing in time."

Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA Today. Reach her on email at cmayesosterman@usatoday.com. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.