Public services will be held Saturday for a Standish teenager, known to family, friends and his teachers an “amazing individual,” who was killed last weekend after a motorist struck him as he walked along Route 25 in Standish.

Authorities said Frankie Rideout, 17, was walking with a friend in front of his house near the intersection of Woodcrest Road when a 1999 Dodge pickup truck, traveling westbound on Route 25, struck him at about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Rideout was thrown 25 to 30 feet down an embankment. Standish Rescue took him to Maine Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The driver of the pickup, Lincoln Turner, 70, of Standish, was not injured. Neither was Rideout’s walking companion.

Accident reconstructionists from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office have investigated the crash scene and conducted witness interviews to determine a cause. The investigation is expected to conclude the middle of next week. So far, Chief Deputy Kevin Joyce said alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the accident and that the driver of pick-up had fallen asleep at the wheel.

A hero

Rideout’s stepfather, Mike Maldonado, said the family is struggling with the loss.

“We’re really not sure how we’re going to recover,” Maldonado said. “You take it one minute at a time, and then hopefully one hour and then one day at a time. Right now, we’re still taking it one minute at a time.”

Maldonado, who married Rideout’s mother Sue-ann five years ago, said he and his wife gave everything they had to raising Rideout right, and that he repaid that effort with precious memories.

“Frankie touched a lot of people’s lives. He left an impression wherever he went. The kid always wanted to help. When the neighbors were sick, he’d rake their lawn. He gave so much of himself all the time. He’d much rather worry about others before worrying about himself,” Maldonado said. “He had the biggest heart of any kid you’ve met.”

To the end, he was doing what he could to help others, Maldonado said, and that included the accident that claimed his life.

“Even though he lost his own life, he saved two others,” Maldonado said. “He always walked on the outside. No matter who he was with, he wanted the other person to be safe. And I’m sure that’s what saved his friend’s life and the man who fell asleep. And for that, he’s a hero. That will be his immortality. He would like to be remembered that way.”

School response

According to friends and teachers, Rideout was an exceptional teen who excelled in many areas. For the last three years, he was a student at the REAL School in South Windham. Teachers say they saw Rideout, who was scheduled to graduate in June, change dramatically during his years at the alternative school.

“When he came here in January 2004, he was much littler, physically and emotionally,” said teacher Lisa Bisceglia. “He didn’t smile very much. He was getting into trouble. But he figured it out by the end. He was a very happy kid, and it was nice to watch him grow.”

Teachers and students at the REAL School this week are coping with Rideout’s death.

“Everyone was pretty floored. He’s always here and now he’s gone. Everyone is just trying to come to terms with him being gone now,” said Bisceglia.

Bisceglia bonded with Rideout during a trip last spring to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. She, Rideout and two other students spent six days in hard-hit St. Bernard’s Parish, working to renovate a food pantry that had been closed since the hurricane hit.

“One of my memories of Frankie was at the food pantry,” Bisceglia said. “There was this giant freezer that hadn’t been opened, but Frankie naturally wanted to see what was inside. Needless to say, it was just filled with mold, but he kept opening it and saying, ‘Did you see it? Did you see it?’ It was about 99 degrees at the time, but he was a funny guy, always joking. He had a really good sense of humor.”

The REAL School features an adventure-based curriculum where students take part in character-building activities such as canoeing, whitewater rafting and mountain climbing. According to Rod Nadeau, a teacher at the school since 1999, Rideout was “one of the best.”

“He was one of my most eager students. He was always looking for new challenges. When we were on top of one mountain, he’d be asking about the next one we’d climb,” Nadeau said.

A few of the peaks the two climbed together were Baldface Mountain and Bald Pate Mountain in Maine, and the rugged Mount Adams in New Hampshire, which they snowshoed last winter. They also paddled the entire length of the Presumpscot River in fall 2005.

“He was great to go on these adventures with. He was really into it,” Nadeau said.

Nadeau said Rideout was a well-liked kid, as well. The students, he said, have really felt his absence. On Sunday, staff notified all the students of Rideout’s death and invited them to come to the school from 3 to 6 p.m. to grieve. On Monday, staff met with the students to exchange fond memories, cry and console each other.

“We’re grieving Frankie’s loss pretty deeply. Monday was probably the most challenging day I’ve had at the school,” Nadeau said.

He described the students’ reaction to the news as a combination of “shattered assumptions” due to the premature death and disbelief that someone they saw a few days before is now dead.

Student Joe McKearney spent Thursday and Friday with Rideout at a “Stuff the Bus” fundraising drive at Shaw’s Supermarket in Windham. McKearney said Rideout was one of the prime organizers of the effort, which raised nearly $1,000 and hundreds of food items for the Windham Food Pantry.

“He was a complete pleasure to know and was a pleasure to have in school,” McKearney said. “He loved basketball and rap and wanted to be a rapper when he grew up. He was also close to his mom. He always talked very highly of her.”

McKearney, who went with Rideout to New Orleans earlier this year, said learning of his friend’s death has been like living a horrible dream. “He was just an awesome kid who will be extremely missed.”

Services

Maldonado said the public is invited to take part in a celebration of Rideout’s life at noon on Saturday at the Washington Gardens Community Center in Portland. It is located at the corner of Providence and Churchill streets.

The family has also set up a fund to help with funeral costs and to create a permanent memorial, to be placed where Rideout died on Route 25. To donate, send checks to Sue-ann Maldonado, c/o True Choice Federal Credit Union, PO Box 10659, Portland, ME 04104.