He would try to engage his sister in snowball fights, but when he realized one particular battle was unfair in his favor, he invited his sister into his fort. He told her, "'You stay here and be my snowball maker,'" Miner recalled.

Miner said she felt like her brother was her protector all her life and that he joined the military to protect others as well.

Clint Lamb said Lundell, his brother-in-law, joined because he loved his family and because "he wanted to make all men free," referring to the people in Afghanistan.

Over the past year, Lundell and 1st Lt. Chad Pledger had been fast becoming more like brothers than best friends.

"I could see the fire that burned inside of him, " Pledger said about Lundell's commitment to serve in the military.

In Afghanistan, Lundell was just as meticulous and hard-working when it came to building a fire pit by hand. Soldiers will now gather at that pit and several places in Afghanistan, including a camp and a building, which will bear his name in honor of his sacrifice.

"Ours is a true love story," Jeanine concluded at the church. "Death is not the end.

"I will miss him more than words can express," she added. "I await our glorious reunion and look forward to our happily-ever-after part of the story."

Following the service Saturday, Lundell was buried in a ceremony with full military honors at the Benjamin City Cemetery near Payson in Utah County.

The Scott Lundell Memorial Fund has been established to benefit his wife and four children. Donations to the trust fund can be made at any Mountain America Credit Union.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com