Friends remember Santa Rosa native, who died helping ducks cross street in Rocklin, for his kindness

The man who died May 18 helping a family of ducks cross a busy four-lane intersection in suburban Sacramento grew up in Santa Rosa, where he had a reputation for helping others just like he did the birds.

Casey Rivara attended Maria Carrillo High School through 2000, where he made friends with other students who are now mourning his death.

“I really wish we could have known each other over the last couple years, because he was just the nicest guy. Really, the nicest guy in high school and after,” said Ryan Moore, a 41-year-old Santa Rosa resident who said he was close friends with Rivara.

Earlier this week, Vanessa Wedderburn, a spokesperson for Santa Rosa City Schools, verified Rivara had attended Maria Carrillo High School.

More than 20 years have passed since Rivara and Moore attended high school together. They occasionally reconnected through social media.

Like so many others, Moore was gutted when it turned out Rivara was at the center of the tragic story that went viral last week.

Rivara, a 41-year-old father, stopped at an intersection May 18 in Rocklin, a city of 73,000 people northeast of Sacramento, where a duck was guiding her ducklings.

He got out of his car and escorted the flock to safety while his children and other motorists watched, including a child who snapped a photo of the kind gesture.

On his way back to his vehicle, a 17-year-old girl entered the intersection and struck Rivara, who died at the scene.

Rocklin police launched an investigation, but the teen was cooperative, and it did not appear she would face criminal charges.

Word of the collision made its way to the Southern California city of Corona, home to Rivara’s childhood friend, Francie Ortiz.

The Maria Carrillo alum was left in shock.

“My stomach went sick,” said Ortiz, 41. “My heart pounded. I just couldn’t believe it. It was awful, awful, awful.”

Ortiz and other former students spoke about Rivara in a Maria Carrillo alumni Facebook group.

“Awe, this is so sad! I remember how kind he always was,” Lisa Knutson posted.

Cody Brown said in a post: “He was the freaking nicest! Such a sad day.”

Ortiz said Rivara also attended Sequoia Elementary School and Rincon Valley Junior High School.

They knew one another in elementary school and drifted apart during middle school before becoming close friends in high school.

Ortiz and Moore dated at the time and Rivara began dating a foreign exchange student named Angela Chow, who later became his wife.

“We were all very close when he met his wife and started dating her, so the four of us hung out quite a bit together,” Ortiz said.

At the time, Rivara’s friends said, he was into video games and anime. Moore described his penchant for humor.

Ortiz also had fond memories of Rivara’s dedication as a friend. She recalled feeling homesick after moving to Southern California for college and Rivara drove down to cheer her up.

“I was a very happy-go-lucky person overall, and he said, ‘This isn’t OK for you to be sad,’” she said.

Moore said she spent an entire day crying after hearing about what happened to Rivara.

It came as no surprise Rivara died while performing a kind gesture.

“In my opinion, he didn’t change very much. He stayed a good, genuine guy,” Moore said. “He was honestly one of the few good ones that stayed good.”

A GoFundMe created by Rivara’s family can be found at pdne.ws/3IL0IgJ.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi.