The body of Col. Geoff Parker, the most senior Canadian Forces member to die in Afghanistan, has returned to Canada.

The casket of Col. Geoff Parker arrives at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario on Friday. (CBC)

Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Gen. Walter Natynczyk, chief of the defence staff, joined family and friends of Parker on Friday as his casket arrived at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in eastern Ontario.

A lone bagpiper sounded over the tarmac and Parker's fellow soldiers stood at attention as an honour guard carried his flag-draped casket from a Canadian Forces transport plane to an awaiting hearse. His family gathered to place individual red roses on top of his casket for the final part of his journey.

Parker, 42, was the 145th member of the Canadian Forces to die in Afghanistan since the current mission began in 2002.

Col. Geoff Parker, 42, of Oakville, Ont., died Tuesday after a car bomb detonated in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Department of National Defence)He was among 18 people killed Tuesday in a suicide car bombing in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Until last June, Parker had been the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, a mechanized unit based at CFB Gagetown, N.B.

The military has said Parker was in Kabul on a reconnaissance mission and was set to become the deputy director of stability for Regional Command South headquarters at Kandahar Airfield.

Parker was preparing to take over a senior position responsible for development work in Kandahar as part of NATO's counterinsurgency strategy in southern Afghanistan.

He was born and raised in Oakville, Ont. A 1990 graduate of the University of Western Ontario, he was married with a son and a daughter, according to his military biography.

Soldier laid to rest

Pte. Kevin McKay of the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was born in Richmond Hill, Ont., and based in Edmonton. (Canadian Forces/Reuters)Parker's repatriation came on the same day as hundreds of Canadian Forces personnel and police officers gathered in Barrie, Ont., for the funeral for another fallen soldier.

Pte. Kevin McKay, known as Mickey to his friends, was killed on May 13 by an improvised explosive device while on foot patrol southwest of Kandahar city.

Born in Richmond Hill, Ont., the 24-year-old McKay was a member of the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton.

He will be buried at the National Military Cemetery in Ottawa.