Dean D. Opicka

Tuesday, April 15 2008 @ 11:27 PM EDT

Green Bay Press Gazette -- For the third time in five years, the Luxemburg-Casco area is mourning the loss of a soldier killed in the line of duty.

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Dean Opicka, 29, was killed Monday by a roadside bomb in the al-Anbar province of Iraq.

Opicka, a 1997 graduate of Luxemburg-Casco High School, was an infantryman with the Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division based in Milwaukee.

Luxemburg-Casco High School Principal Steve Okoniewski knew Opicka well and said he was "a heck of a kid."

Opicka was a three-sport athlete — some of his baseball records still stand — and performed in school musicals. He was a senior class representative and had a 3.8 grade-point average, Okoniewski said.

"He was involved in a ton of stuff," Okoniewski said. "He was just a likable kid … by students and faculty, alike."

Opicka graduated from Carroll College in Waukesha in May 2002 with a double major in psychology and history, according to Carroll spokeswoman Claire Beglinger. Opicka returned to Carroll College in 2003 and completed a teaching certification in spring 2005. Opicka enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves in August 2005 and deployed to Iraq in September 2007. He was teaching in the Milwaukee area and living in Waukesha before his deployment.

Opicka was one of two Wisconsin Marines killed in the improvised explosive attack Monday. Cpl. Richard J. Nelson of Kenosha, also of Fox Company, was also killed, said Marine spokesman Staff Sgt. Cliff Turley, the unit's public affairs officer.

A third Fox Company Marine — 21-year-old Lance Cpl. David Doyle of Racine — was wounded, but is expected to stay in Iraq and return to duty, Turley said.

Okoniewski met with Opicka before he deployed to talk about the possibility of Opicka returning to his alma mater as a teacher.

"He got called up and knew he wouldn't be back until August," said Okoniewski, who kept in touch with Opicka during his deployment. "I would have loved to have had him back … if the circumstances were right. Then his dad told me that he wouldn't be back until November."

Okoniewski said Opicka's brother, Darren, is also a U.S. Marine stationed in California. Darren Opicka has served twice in Iraq, Okoniewski said.

Visitation for Opicka is planned for Luxemburg-Casco High School, with funeral services at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Luxemburg. Dates and times are pending.

Opicka was the third Luxemburg-Casco graduate killed in Iraq: Cpl. Jesse Thiry, 23, of Casco was killed April 5, 2004; Sgt. Luke Zimmerman, 24, of the town of Green Bay, was killed Oct. 27, 2006. Both Marines were 2000 graduates of Luxemburg-Casco High School.

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