ContraCosta Times -- A national guardsman from Antioch died in Iraq over the weekend when a roadside bomb exploded near his armored vehicle.

Sgt. Daniel Scheile, 37, died Saturday from injuries he received late Friday while patrolling in southeastern Baghdad, according to military reports. Scheile was with the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry.

He is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and two daughters, Kelli, 9 and Marissa, 4.

Scheile, an active-duty guardsmen for 17 years, worked as a concrete mason in Antioch before shipping off to Iraq in August 2004.

"He was a really good family man. He would do anything for anybody," said Scheile's father, Ronald Scheile, who worked as a mason with his son. Scheile's mother lives in Stockton.

He said his son also fought in Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War.

"I didn't agree on this (the Iraq war), but I was proud of him for what he'd done," Ronald Scheile said.

During his stint in Iraq, Scheile reported a number close calls with roadside bombs before Friday's incident, including one about a month ago that left shrapnel in his face. Yet, he never talked about being afraid, he was just doing his job, his duty, Ronald Scheile said.

"He had a Purple Heart," he said. "I couldn't understand why they didn't send him home."

He said Scheile was scheduled to come home in October for both his daughters' birthdays, but during their last conversation a month ago, Scheile told him the Army had pushed back his visit to November.

His sister-in-law, Annie Carroll, said the Antioch native had two passions -- his wife, Jennifer, and the military.

"She talked to him every day through email when he could," Carroll said.

Carroll said Jennifer, her sister, would regularly send Scheile copious bags of candy, which he would hand out to Iraqi children.

"He believed strongly in what he was fighting for," Carroll said. "He was there for peace and believed in rebuilding Iraq."

Scheile had another passion -- fishing, which he shared with his father-in-law, John Beason.

In April, Beason, a member of the North Arkansas Fly Fishers in Mountain Home, Ark., raised money to donate fishing equipment to his son-in-law's unit. Scheile, an angling enthusiast, planned to organize a fishing derby when the gear arrived.

But ever mindful of the dangers of a job that shrouded even the most innocuous pastime, Scheile reminded his father-in-law in an email, "that fishing is a bit less relaxing in the middle of a war."

Scheile got to use the fishing gear once, Carroll said.

As of Monday, at least 1,919 members of the U.S. military have been killed since the beginning of the Iraq war March 2003, according to the Associated Press.