Fatal Crash Victim Has Strong Ties to Bristol

Elia "Lee" Giusti's life was cut short Wednesday after a . 

He was driving on Bristol Ferry Road just after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, when the 2005 Lexus he was operating was struck by a Ford F-150. 

Giusti, 79, was transported to Newport Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The driver of the crash has since been charged with . 

Giusti was a real estate investor who wintered and lived in Hollywood, FL, according to a family member. He was listed as a resident of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, but he and his family also have strong ties to Bristol, dating back to the early 1900s. 

The current Florida resident came from "an old Bristol, Italian immigrant family whose mother came to Bristol in 1906 from Paglieta Abbruzzo, Italy," wrote a relative in an e-mail to Patch Friday. 

His father was from Northern Italy. You can find his father's name engraved along with other local Bristolians on the World War I memorial next to the Dunkin' Donuts at the corner of High and Church streets. 

Giusti's uncles on his mother's side ran a barber shop at this same location from the early 1920s. The shop, which operated for years, was named the "White Tonsorial Parlor" and then later "Joe's Barber Shop."

Author George Howe in is book, "Mount Hope," devotes two pages to Giusti's aunt's family, who immigrated to Bristol with her. Giusti's uncle was chairman of the school board for many years.

A family member also owned and operated a store called Giusti's Spa, located across the street from 275 Wood St. (north of Church Street), for many years. 

Did you know Elia "Lee" Giusti? Leave your condolences or rememberences in the comment section below.