‘All-American Boy’ Loses Life In Collision With Bus

The day before Mike Rinaldi left for Hawaii, he enjoyed an early birthday celebration with his mother and grandparents.

Among Mike’s gifts was a fly fishing rod that once was his great-grandfather’s.

That, in turn, led to a look through his great-grandmother’s photo album. His great-grandparents had a large family, and several of their children died young.

“Mike started talking about dying young,” said his mother, Kathy Rinaldi. “He realized that’s why people used to have such large families, so they would have a few kids left. He said he was glad times had changed, and that he knew (his older brother) Pete and he were going to live a long time, so I wouldn’t have to worry about losing him young.”

Six days later, Mike died.

The University High School senior was riding a mountain bike down the 38-mile decent from Haleakela, a volcano on the island of Maui. Mike and 21 other high school students were in Hawaii for a marine biology program during spring break.

Mike had eagerly anticipated the trip, his mother said, the way he enjoyed all of life. He looked forward to the snorkeling, the whales, the water - the whole adventure. The tour was led by East Valley High School biology teacher John Swett.

Mike lost control of his bike and collided with a tour bus. Though he was an experienced mountain biker, the skid marks at the accident site reached 200-300 feet, his mother said.

Islanders helped the students, chaperones, and Swett hold a Hawaiian funeral service over the weekend.

“A whale-watching boat took them out. They all got leis and flowers,” Kathy said, “And they threw the leis out on the water.”

A wake will be held at 7 p.m. today at St. Mary’s Church. Friends are requested to bring goodbye messages for Mike. They will be gathered and sealed into the casket, “since none of us got to say goodbye,” his mother said. Other memorabilia will be included, too - his favorite stuffed animal, his bike helmet, his batting glove. His mother reached through her grief to quip: “We’d probably put his bike in, too, but it’s too big.”

Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. at St. Mary’s, with internment following at Pines Cemetery.

Directly following, a luncheon and birthday celebration will be held at St. Mary’s church hall.

Mike would have turned 18 on Easter Sunday.

He often rode his bike on the Palouse and had created an alternative physical education class in mountain biking at U-Hi this semester.

He was working with physical education teacher Jay Humphrey to develop other parts of the program, including survival training and bike mechanics, for the future.

“Here’s the all-American boy, just in every sense of the word,” said U-Hi Principal Erik Ohlund.

Mike had been accepted at Eastern Washington University and applied for the honors program there. He played soccer, tennis, softball, participated in DECA, choir and art; and won numerous scholastic honors.

“This young man is a huge, huge loss,” said Skip Bonuccelli, Central Valley spokesman.

Mike enjoyed hunting, fishing, water skiing and was a proficient downhill skier, his mother said.

And again, she reached through her tears, this time to tell the story of Mike and his brother, skiing off the roof of their house. It was the winter of 1992-93, the year we had a lot of snow.

“Our neighbor took pictures of them, because he just couldn’t believe what he was seeing.”

Kathy could believe it, especially the next spring when she saw the condition of her shrubs.

Mike is survived by his mother, his father, Dr. Pete Rinaldi, and his brother, Peter.

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