"He saw everybody he could, even his great-grandfather," said his grandmother, Michelle Hisey of Beaverton. "We golfed, spent about five days down there, did the Florida thing." The Saginaw News -- GLADWIN -- Brad A. Wentz doled out hugs and tee shots during his leave from Iraq last month, spending 11 days between Michigan and Florida in a fast and furious family reunion for the 21-year-old father.
"He saw everybody he could, even his great-grandfather," said his grandmother, Michelle Hisey of Beaverton. "We golfed, spent about five days down there, did the Florida thing."
But rather than celebrate his second wedding anniversary today with high school sweetheart Tami Wentz, Army Reserve Sgt. Brad Wentz's family is readying for a funeral and the arrival of a flag-wrapped coffin.
Wentz, a 2002 Gladwin High School graduate who joined up in his junior year, died Friday when an explosion ripped through the truck he was driving with the 180th Transportation Company in Iraq.
"He was traveling in a convoy when they were attacked by Iraqi insurgents, and his vehicle was hit either by a rocket-propelled grenade or roadside bomb," Army Maj. Willie Harris said Tuesday.
He said Brig. Gen. Michael W. Beasley from the Army Reserve's headquarters at Ft. Snelling, Minn., was planning to attend Wentz's funeral Thursday.
Tami Wentz, 21, and their 15-month-old daughter, Jerzey, learned of his death with a knock on the door around 10 a.m. Friday in Beaverton. Military officials also were visiting Wentz's father, Chris Wentz, in Gladwin and his mother, Shelly Wentz, in Zephyrhills, Fla.
"They talked to all of them within about an hour-and-a-half that morning," Hisey said.
Wentz is among 1,493 U.S. soldiers killed since President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat operations in April 2003 and among 1,636 killed in the Iraq war since it began, the military said.
Wentz often summered at his grandparents' Wixom Lake home after returning at 12 to live with his father. He had lived in Florida with his mother after his parents split early on, Hisey said.
An avid youth hockey player, Wentz also spent hours in Michigan's woods and lakes, fishing or hunting with his grandfather, a veteran -- and Wentz's inspiration, Hisey said.
She recalled the day he announced his intentions to become a career military man while still in school.
"He came to me and his grandfather and he said he made a decision about his future, and we said, 'Lay it on us," said Hisey, 52.
"His grandfather was in the 82nd Airborne, and I think that had a big, big influence on his life."
She said her grandson since early childhood spent hours in deer blinds with William Hisey, 64, who regaled him with stories of military duty and is reeling from his grandson's death.
"Oh my God, that's the worst part," she said.
An athlete who enjoyed water activities as well -- his grandfather pulled him on inner tubes behind a speedboat on Wixom Lake -- Brad Wentz's married life featured frequent departures and reunions, Hisey said.
She said the Pentagon activated him three times, but only in December did he ship to Iraq for a one-year hitch. Last month, Wentz began his leave April 18 and returned to Iraq on April 29.
A service is set for 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at Hall Funeral Home, 440 E. Cedar in Gladwin, and family and friends may call thereafter from noon to 9 p.m. Another ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Friday at Gladwin High School.
He is survived by step-mother Christine Wentz of Gladwin, sister Brandy Wentz of Zephyrhills, niece Jazmine Gomez of Zephyrhills and step-brother Justin Clemons of Gladwin.
Also surviving are grandparents Clark and Sandy Wentz of Beaverton, Carol Wentz of Gladwin, Nancy Fisher of Zephyrhills and Fred and Mary Schoenberg of Palmetto, Fla.; and great-grandparents Dorothy Wentz of Coleman and Harold Comer of Beaverton.
Wentz's family has created a Chemical Bank trust fund for his daughter's college education under the name Brad A. Wentz. For information, call the bank at (989) 426-9246.