Shored by family, friends, Alexy pursues dream of owning restaurant
Morrisville and Preston Progress, Thursday, Jan. 30,1997 - 3
By Ron Page
Tragic events often alter the
course of one’s life.
For Cary’s Joanna Alexy, the
death of her husband in an auto ac
cident last spring could easily have
crushed the dream they bHb shared
of her operating her own restaurant.
"Thomas was always so suppor
tive of me," she said while seated at
a booth in a rear area of her China
Gate Restaurant at Preston Caners
Shopping Center. "He knew it had
always been a dream of mine and
he was there for me always.”
Tliomas Alexy was not in the
restaurant business. Originally from
Columbus, Ohio, he was a software
engineer for a computer company,
and it was while he was on a 10-
week business trip to Taiwan in
1981 that be and Joanna met.
He returned to the United States
and three years later she joined
him. They were married in Ohio
and bad two children, Eric, now 3
1/2 and Tiffany, 6.
For Joanna, moving to a new
country with a culture so different
than her own, was an e}q)erience
she says she’D never forget She
was bom in Kaoshing, Taiwan,
after her mother and father, who
was in the Taiwanese Navy during
World War II, left China to take up
residence there.
One of four children, she has an
older sister, Sandy, living in Aus
tralia, a sister, Louise, in England,
an older brother, Yuang, still in
FAMILY TIES-Joanna Alexy likes having her children, Eric and
Tiffany, around. Running a restaurant leaves her little spare time.
Taiwan, and another brother Tony,
who came to the States a few years
ago. A chef for 15 years, Tony
beads the kitchen staff at China
Gate.
"Everything was so foreign to
me, even speaking on the telephone
frightened me," she said. "I was
afraid to pick it up when it rang,"
she explained. "I bad a fear because
Americans spoke so fast and 1 was
embarrassed that I would not be
able to respond properly.
'T also wasn’t used to such open
spaces. Houses and buildings are
VCTy close, tight together in Taiwan
and that had been all I had ever
known. Now, suddenly everything
here was spread out, houses were
separated and everything appeared
so open."
A^ then there was the food. "It
was so different," she said.
Joanna worked as a waitress, but
she recalls seeing so many places
offering things like pizza, fried
chicken and French fries.
"I was used to vegetables ^ every
meal," she said. "How did I feel? I
do believe the majority of food is
better for you in Qiina. Vegetables
are stir fried, and not overcooked.
They are more nutritious, in gener
al."
When her husband took a job
transfer, it brought them to Cary,
and realizing her feelings about
opening a restaurant, she said, he
gave her his total support.
China Gate opened about two
years ago, the first restaurant in the
Preston Comers Shopping Center.
"My brother, Tony, who has been
cooking professionally for 15 years
is in charge of the kitchen. He came
here from England several years
ago where he was a chef. His
specialties are French and Chinese
cooking," she said.
Her father died three years ago,
and her mother lives with her in
Cary.
"She goes back to China every
year to see my grandmother, an
aunt I have there, and several
cousins," she said. "No, I haven’t
been there. Hopefully, someday."
She said her mother- and father-
in-law visit her often from Ohio.
"I can’t thank all those who have
helped me since the accident, so
many wonderful neighbors,
coworkers and friends. My neigh
bors, for example, cut the grass 19
times after the accident, each one
taking turns. They did things like
changing filters and washing my
car, household tasks, even cooked
dinner for my kids the first three or
four months. How could I ever ex
press my feelings to all who sent
cards and flowers and to all those
phone calls?" she said, wiping a
tear from her eye.
She said she had to prove to her
self that she could survive and
that’s why she works seven days a
week.
"I could never let him down. My
husband was so supportive to me in
every way, so understanding about
my dreams of having my own
restaurant,” she said.
"Then the accident h^pened that
morning in April while he was on
his way to work at RTP along
Davis Drive. The call from the hos
pital came as such a shock. My son
was too young to understand. My
daughter wouldn’t talk about it for
weeks. Finally she said it was be
cause she didn’t want to make me
cry.
"I never had a chance to tell him
how good he had been. I never had
a chance even to say good-bye,"
she said.
Employers
invited
to job fair
Morrisville area businesses who
are struggling to find workers
might find some relief at a job fair
sponsored by the Triangle Transit
Authority on Feb. 7.
About 30 to 40 prospective
workers from Johnston County will
be transported to the Raleigh-
Airport Courtyard by Marriott
Hotel frran 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to
interview for jobs.
Billie Cox, who runs the vanpool
program for TTA said the idea is to
"bring workers from the same gen
eral area to jobs in the same general
area," and transportation can be
provided for them.
Most of the workers have been
referred from the "Work First" pro
gram, the Employment Security
Commission, and vocational train
ing and community college pro
grams in Johnston County.
Businesses who might be inter
ested in hiring these workers are
asked to contact Ms. Cox at 990-
9038, ext. 20, for a table at the Job
Fair.
Taking a lesson on how to live from two who did it well
Thank You For
Reading The
Morrisville and
Preston Progress!
By Roxanne Powers
Members of the small community
of Carpenter have lost two young
men untto' the age of 34 in less
than three weeks.
These young men didn’t share
lifestyles or death-styles. What they
did share was an ability to extract
the most frcm what life offered.
Mike Hatcher was bom on Nov.
15, 1963 and died at the age of 33
on Dec. 31, 1996. As a child Mike
was diagnosed with Cystic
Fibrosis, and courageously spent
his entire life fighting the disease
that often claims its victims in
childhood.
Mike loved salt water fishing
witih his Dad, Dr. Hubert Hatcher,
reading and writing.
Many are the people who were
influenced to make positive life
style changes because of Mike’s
diligent fight to live. I know that
for a fact. I became cme of those
people when I gave up smoking al
most two years ago on Feb. 19,
1995.
Mike’s next door neighbor and
cousin by marriage, Kelly Hock-
aday, lost her 30-year-old brother
Shawn Hansen to a fatal ice
climbing accident on Jan. 19,1997.
As a child, Shawn suffered from
asthma, which seriously hindered
his ability to enjoy life. Though he
never out-grew the asthma, he
made good on his childhood vow to
live life to the fullest in spite of it.
In his zeal, he did take risks, and
one of those risks did cost him his
life, but then, how many more of us
waste our lives by taking no risks at
all?
Both young men’s values were
reflected by the cross section of
people - seemingly all ages, races
and incomes - showing their
respect at the funerals.
Site near town hall eyed for subdivision
A public hearing will be held on
Feb. 24 to discuss the rezoning of
about 28 acres off Morrisville-
Carpenter Road between the Town
Hall and Davis Drive to develop a
single-family residential neighbor
hood.
Charles M. Elam and Associates
submitted the petition for rezoning.
The 27.98 acres are currently
zoned agricultural district, and
would be rezoned to residential-
management conditional use dis
trict
Elam said he has submitted a
layout to the town for the subdivi-.
sion, which would have standard
10,000-foot lots.
After the public hearing, the plans
would go to the planning board,
and back to the board of com
missioners. If plans are approved,
construction could begin this sum
mer, Elam said.
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