Members of a Lakewood church are mourning an Army sergeant from Tacoma who died in Afghanistan this week – the second soldier with local ties reported killed in that country since Saturday.
Sgt. Nathan Wyrick, 34, leaves behind a wife and four sons. The Defense Department has not sent an official release announcing his death, and a Pentagon spokeswoman declined to provide more information Tuesday evening.
Word of Wyrick’s death circulated Tuesday among Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers who knew Wyrick from a past assignment and among his fellow worshipers at Lakewood’s New Hope Community Church.
Wyrick graduated from Franklin Pierce High School with the class of 1996 and played for the school’s varsity football team, a school spokesman said.
Wyrick left a lasting mark on his friends at New Hope church. They remembered him as a generous man who had served in Iraq and looked out for other Army families coping with deployments to the Middle East.
“He was a dad first and foremost, and a soldier second,” said Andrea Wright, 28, of University Place.
Wright learned of Wyrick’s death Monday from the soldier’s wife, Rachel Wyrick. They became close friends several years ago when Wright’s husband was assigned to Lewis-McChord.
Another friend said Nathan Wyrick loved his children so much he tattooed their names on his body. He had an affection for other children, too, playing with Wright’s four sons when her husband served on a deployment overseas.
“He was uncle Nay-Nay,” she said.
The Wyricks moved about a year and a half ago to Fort Drum, N.Y., when Nathan Wyrick was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division. They’ve visited the South Sound several times since then, friends said.
Dan Livingston, a friend from New Hope Church, admired how Wyrick supported his family while serving in the Army. Livingston said Wyrick joined the service after first pursuing a career as a civilian electrician.
“He was a real passionate dad who joined the Army to support his family,” Livingston said.
Another friend remembered Wyrick as a “gung ho” soldier who never had a bad word to say about others.
“He was proud of the job he did,” said Iona Parker, 60, of Steilacoom. “He did it very well. He wasn’t a shirker and he didn’t badmouth anyone.”
The Wyricks stayed with the Parkers just before they moved to New York. Iona Parker said Nathan would spend time in the garage with her husband, talking about military life and “sharing what it means to leave your family and the risks involved.”
“He desperately loved his family,” Parker said.
Wyrick is the second soldier with local connections to lose his life in Afghanistan in recent days. Spc. Ricardo Cerros Jr., an Army Ranger from Lewis-McChord, was killed in combat Saturday.
Adam Ashton: 253-597-8646
adam.ashton@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/military
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