Friends remembered Fort Carson’s Sgt. Mark H. Schoonhoven as a top marksman and perpetual ray of sunshine at a Wednesday memorial service on the post.

Eulogists said the Army truck driver stayed upbeat, even during a 2007 deployment to Afghanistan that lasted more than a year.

Schoonhoven, 38, died Jan. 20 at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas,  from wounds suffered when his convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in Kabul, Afghanistan Dec. 15.

It was the third deployment to Afghanistan for the Plainwell, Mich.-born soldier, who was assigned to 4th Infantry Division’s 43rd Sustainment Brigade.

Master Sgt. John Gutierrez, who served as Schoonhoven’s platoon sergeant during the 2007 deployment, recalled a time when Schoonhoven refused to let a temporary guard relieve him from night tower duty while his regular relief was ill.

“I’ll quit only when I’m properly relived,” Gutierrez recalled Schoonhoven saying. “I can stop a vehicle in one shot. My relief may not be able to.”

When his relief showed up two hours later, Schoonhoven, who must have been exhausted, departed “just as happy as anyone could be,” Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez offered words of gratitude to his former comrade.

“Thanks for reminding me that I need the best on the gun,” Gutierrez said.

The brigade’s 1st Lt. Natalie Lopez-Barnard remembered Schoonhoven as an “exceptional” sergeant who lived his unit’s motto to “make it happen.”

Schoonhoven competed with the officers to arrive at work first, she said.

“He was always prepared and ready to roll out,” she said. “He challenged everyone to appreciate the daily grind.”

During his seven years in the Army, Schoonhoven earned awards including the Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

Lopez-Barnard also offered words of gratitude to Schoonhoven.

“Thanks for reminding us to take everything with a smile,” she said.

As dedicated as Schoonhoven was to the Army, he was also known to race home to his family when his work was finished, she said.

Schoonhoven is survived by his wife, Tammi, and five children: Ava, 7 months; Anjelika, 6; Sheeshta, 9; Sylvia, 17; and Forrest, 22.

An honor guard fires three volleys to honor Staff Sgt. Mark Schoonhoven during a memorial service at Ft. Carson on Wednesday, January 30, 2013. (The Gazette/Jerilee Bennett) Photo by JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE

JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE

Sgt. Mark Schoonhoven Photo by Courtesy of Fort Carson