Tim Gentry was the kind of guy who could look into a person's heart and see what was good, even if they couldn't see it themselves. That's the way his younger sister described her brother - as "a shining soul," who always had a smile on his face and a kind word for everyone he met. Gentry, 32, was gunned down on a street near his home in Columbia on Tuesday, cutting short a life of service to others and dashing his plans to propose to his girlfriend, his sister, Jessica Turner, said. He was the son of Robin and Dr. Doug Gentry, a family practice physician in Clemson. "He wanted to make the world a better place and to glorify the Lord every moment of it," Turner said. "That was his purpose in life was to share his faith."

The Columbia Police Department was continuing to investigate the case Friday, reviewing surveillance videos from near the scene and following leads to a person meeting the description given by witnesses, spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said. "We continue to investigate the motive surrounding the incident," she said. Turner said her brother's wallet was missing, but the family has no other details about what happened. He had spent the day with his girlfriend, Maegan Reeder of Columbia, to whom he was "just about to propose," his sister said. He had driven home, to the 1200 block of Beaufort Street, when he was attacked at around 1 a.m., according to police.

The department put out a possible description of a suspect - "A thin, dark-skinned black male with a medium build, last seen wearing a white tank-top style shirt and dark pants. He appeared to have short braids or dreadlocks. "Turner said she's sure her brother would have no malice toward his assailant. "We have no hate for the man or woman who shot him," she said. "We know Tim would want him to know that there was something more to life." He had a heart for mission and meeting needs in places around the world, having spent time in Peru, Tanzania and India for that purpose his sister said. He had been quietly contributing for the past five years to an organization called Fuel India and helped develop a children's home program there, working remotely since visiting villages in India five years ago, his sister said. The organization has decided to name the children's home, which is to be built next year, after him, she said. "We didn't even know he was contributing to this children's home," Turner said.After graduating from D.W. Daniel High School, he earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Clemson University in 2009. He was an employee of the Hispanic Assistance and Bilingual Language Access Project at the University of South Carolina, a translation and interpretation center that worked closely with child protective services. He also had been a personal care aide for a man in Columbia for about two years and was very involved in his house church, which originally had been connected with Mountain of Worship, his sister said. "His relationship with the Lord was the most important thing in his life," she said. He was taking courses in preparation for going to nursing school.

"Every decision he made was based off of what would glorify the Lord," Turner said. "And it changed the decisions he made and his relationships." Turner felt as though she could almost hear his voice as she described him. One thing in particular stood out: his laugh. "He had the best laugh," she said. "He was always laughing." Timothy Peter Gentry is survived by his parents; two brothers, Benjamin Michael Gentry of Augusta, Georgia and Jonathan David Gentry of Pasadena, California; two sisters, Jessica Suzanne Turner of Charleston and Abigail Marie Gentry of Chicago and by his betrothed, Maegan Reeder of Columbia.

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