Shalynda Toney's lifelong dream was to travel to Italy, see the countryside, sample the cuisine and experience the culture.

The Hollins University senior did just that this year as part of a study-abroad program in Rome.

"She was having the time of her life," her father, Frank Toney, said Monday.

Shalynda Toney, of Vinton, died Sunday in Rome of injuries she suffered when a motorcycle struck her Thursday as she crossed the street, her father said. She was 21.

She would have graduated next year with a double major in business and music, he said.

She didn't know which career she wanted to pursue, but Frank Toney said Monday that whatever she did, he is sure she would have been helping others.

"She was a humanitarian," he said. "She was a giver."

He pointed to his daughter's last act as an example of that: Doctors in Italy were able to harvest her organs, which went to help six people, he said.

Since her death, Toney's family has learned more about how she touched others.

In the weeks since she had been in Rome, she had befriended the owner of her favorite restaurant. That man has told her family what an inspiration she was to him, her father said.

He also described his daughter as ambitious and independent.

Her grades at William Byrd High School earned her a scholarship to Hollins. There, she was pursuing two minors and two majors, he said.

Hollins held a prayer vigil for the campus community Monday night. A public memorial service is planned for Monday at the duPont Chapel.

Hollins President Nancy Gray on Sunday sent a statement about Toney's death to the students, faculty and staff.

In it, Gray wrote of Toney's generous and compassionate spirit and urged those at Hollins to remember her.

"Let us keep Shalynda close to our hearts and cherish a life that ended far too soon."