Sgt. Michael S. Hancock was an avid bicylist who loved chidren, his family said.

“He could ride a bicycle 100 miles and come back by lunchtime,” said his father, Michael R. Hancock. “But he could never pass his driver’s test.”

The 29-year-old soldier, a native of Yreka, Calif., died during a gunbattle in Mosul, Iraq, on Oct. 24 when armed men attacked a grain storage facility, the military said.

He joined the Army in 1993 after graduation from Yreka High School and planned to make his career in the military, his wife, Jeannie Hancock, said.

The couple met when she was driving in Fort Stewart, Ga., and almost struck his bike. They met by chance later that night at a coffee shop.

“He was a very loving father and husband,” Jeannie Hancock said. “He was so funny that he’d make you laugh all the time.”

He was based at Fort Campbell, Ky., and lived in Clarksville, Tenn. In addition to his wife, survivors include two children and two stepchildren.

— Associated Press