Arrangements are being made in Summerside for the funeral of Warrant Officer Frank Mellish, the 38-year-old soldier with roots in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia who was killed in action in Afghanistan Sunday.

'It does bring the realities of the differences in this mission compared to other missions closer to home.'- Capt. Rob Tesselaar

Captain Rob Tesselaar, Mellish's cousin, was in Trenton, Ont., Wednesday as his cousin Frank's body was returned from Afghanistan.

"He loved being a soldier. He was one of the most professional guys that I've ever had the opportunity to work with," Tesselaar told CBC News.

"He knew the business. You know, he lived the mottos that we throw around so easily, leading by example, and you know he did it without trying. He set the example for everybody to follow."

Mellish joined the cadets while he was a high school student in Kensington, P.E.I., which is also where he met his wife Kendra Stordy at age 13. They were married at St. Paul's in Summerside, and that's where friends and family will gather for his funeral early next week.

Mellish leaves behind Kendra and two sons, Matthew and Koven, as well as his parents, Barry and Sandra Mellish, in Truro, N.S., where he also lived as a child.

"The pallbearers will all be soldiers. There will also be an honour guard at the cathedral and at the cemetery," said Tesselaar.

"The details haven't been hammered out yet. But it will be a military service and a military chaplain will be working with the father in Kensington to do the service. And friends and family from across the country are flying in, a number of whom still wear the uniform."

Mellish will be buried at the Floral Hills Memorial Gardens near Kensington.

In 18 years with the military this was Mellish's seventh overseas deployment, his second to Afghanistan.

Tesselaar is going to Afghanistan himself in February.
 
"Like Frank, I understand the risks associated, and it's part of the job," he said.

"It doesn't make me much more apprehensive. It does bring the realities of the differences in this mission compared to other missions closer to home."

Three other Canadian soldiers, Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan, Sgt. Shane Stachnik and Pte. William Jonathan James Cushley, were killed in the battle with Taliban soldiers where Mellish died.

 Mellish is the second soldier from Truro to die in Afghanistan this summer.

Cpl. Christopher Jonathan Reid, 34, was killed when his armoured vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb near Kandahar on Aug. 3.

A total of 32 Canadian soldiers and one Canadian diplomat have died in Afghanistan since 2002.