ALOHA, Ore. -- The selflessness Ross Barfuss exhibited in his final act was no surprise to friends and relatives.

Last year, he did a 50-mile hike with his church. He cheered others on as they tired and shared food with those who forgot their own. In the future, the Aloha High School student hoped to become a traveling dentist and provide care to poor children.

He "wasn't a hero in his death. He was a hero in his life," his mother, Deanna Barfuss, told The Oregonian newspaper.

On Saturday, Barfuss, along with a brother and a friend, raced into the ocean at Gleneden Beach to save an 11-year-old boy struggling in the heavy surf. The boy, River Jenison, later died at a hospital. Barfuss went missing in the waves, and his body has not been recovered.

Slideshow: Search effort at scene

Coast Guard Boatswain’s Mate Chief James Greenlief said the boys did not know each other and “this was strictly a Good Samaritan-type situation.”

"He was sitting in the water and I yelled to him stand up I'm coming and he said he couldn't stand up," brother Lance Barfuss said.

A firefighter eventually found Jenison and pulled him onto the shore. He was then rushed to Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital but doctors there could not save him and he was pronounced dead.

Ross Barfuss

The search continued for several hours for Barfuss, but his body was not found.

Barfuss was a junior at Aloha High School, where counselors were made available for students to talk to on Monday. One of Barfuss' brothers attends Mountain View Elementary School, where counselors were also on hand to help struggling students. The family is still at the coast, searching for the body.

Friends said they're not surprised by how Barfuss died, because he was such a caring, supportive young man.

"He was always going out of his way to try and help someone else out," one fellow student told KGW. "He was always trying to make somebody else happy."

Barfuss' family attends the Mormon church across the street from Aloha High School, where many were mourning his death. Friends were writing notes to the family and working on creating a special scrapbook.

"I will tell you leaving the coast without our son is going to rip our hearts I'm trying to grasp the strength I need to accept that ross may be buried at sea," father David said.

On Monday, about 60 students gathered at a Mormon student center in Aloha to pray.

They said Barfuss, 16, had red hair, a good sense of humor and a thrift store plaid suit he wore to church services each week. He loved rock climbing, wakeboarding, hiking, and spending time at the beach.

"He shined as bright as the red hair he had," said Braden Grawrock, 17, who attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with Barfuss.

The teenager also loved music and his brain was a database for song lyrics. He joked about making an audition tape for the television show "Don't Forget the Lyrics" so he could win money to share with his family.

Deanna Barfuss said she is at peace even if her son's body never surfaces. "We decided that he is buried," she said. "He's just not under dirt, but he's under water. "Ross is not his body. He was that personality. That smile. That suit."

Jenison was from the small town of Westfir, Oregon.

It was an especially dangerous weekend on the coast.

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