Man killed in moped accident
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
Rodrigo Just, 28, of Cherry Street, was riding his new moped in the vicinity of the intersection of Surfside and Bartlett roads at about 12:35 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 19 when he was struck and killed by a white 2006 Jeep driven by Genevieve Ryan, 24, of Nantucket. According to Deputy Police Chief Charles Gibson, Ryan was not drinking but was charged with negligent driving resulting in death. He said she was not arrested; however she will have to appear in court at a later date.

Rodgrigo Just

When officials arrived at the scene Just had no pulse. Crews attempted to revive him using cardiopulmonary resuscitation but he was pronounced dead on arrival at Nantucket Cottage Hospital. The accident is under investigation.

Friends of Just held a fundraiser at the Rose & Crown Monday night to try to raise $10,000 to pay the cost of sending his body back to Brazil where he has fam- ily. Approximately 200 people attended the event, which brought in $13,500.

"Within two and a-half hours we reached our goal of $10,000," said Sandy Walsh, one of the organizers, who knew Just, a carpenter, for a year. She said he was well liked by all who met him. "A lot of the folks who came [to the fundraiser] may not have known him, but because they're immigrants they know the importance of his going home."

Many who mourned the shocking death of Rodrigo Just contributed to a makeshift memorial near the scene of the accident at the corner of Bartlett and Surfside Roads. It included Just's bicycle, on which he was often seen riding around the island, top right.

Logan Gomes, and her husband Tiago, were close friends with Just, who they said moved to Nantucket about a year and a-half ago shortly after Tiago became a resident. The men went to school together in Brazil.

"He was a best friend," he said. "We were always at each other's house. My mother knew his mother. He was so special to me."

Logan Gomes said she and her husband had lunch with Just on Saturday and were with him that evening.

"My husband saw him every day. He was the best man at our wedding," she said. "He was working here supporting his mother and brother in Brazil. He took time off from university in Brazil studying sociology and was planning to return at the end of the year. Rodrigo was brilliant - we called him The Poet. He was always at the library taking out books and he was in their literacy program. He was such a bright young man, and he was truly one of the most selfless people I've ever met. Everything was about giving to others."

COURTESY OF SANDYWALSH

Walsh said donations are continuing to come in and anyone who wants to contribute to aid Just's family may send checks made out to the Rodrigo Just Memorial Fund, c/o Logan and Tiago Gomes, 15

Wherowhero Lane, Nantucket, Mass. 02554. I