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MINNEAPOLIS - A 30-year-old Wisconsin native and "wonderful humanitarian" who recently moved to Minnesota's Iron Range has died in Iraq, his family learned Wednesday. Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Pionk, the third person from Wisconsin to die in Iraq in five days, had been in the Army for nine years and began his second tour of duty in Iraq just five months ago, said his father, Duane Pionk. "Matthew was a great American soldier," Duane Pionk said Thursday, adding that his son always helped the downtrodden and others in need. "He was just a wonderful humanitarian in that way. "The people in life that always had problems -- he was there to help them." The Department of Defense didn't immediately release details of Pionk's death, but his father said he was told by military officials that Matthew Pionk died when terrorists detonated a bomb in a building. "He was a platoon sergeant. He led a squad of five people into a building to clear a building, and the terrorists, they had planted a bomb in there and they remotely detonated it after he was in there," said Duane Pionk, of Superior, Wis. The Associated Press has reported that six soldiers were killed Wednesday in a booby-trapped house in Diyala. It was not immediately clear whether this was the same attack that led to Pionk's death. Pionk is a native of Oliver, Wis., a small town near Superior, and graduated from high school in Superior in 1996. He had recently moved to Eveleth, on Minnesota's Iron Range, Duane Pionk said. He was married and leaves behind three children, ages 8, 6 and 3. He earned a Bronze Star during his first tour of duty for helping a fellow soldier who was injured, Duane Pionk said. "We're very proud of him," Pionk said. "He was a wonderful father. He was a wonderful son. And he was a wonderful soldier." Pionk is the 84th member of the military from Wisconsin to die in the Iraq war. The most recent deaths were those of Army Pfc. Timothy R. Hanson, 23, of Kenosha, on Monday and Army Pfc. Jason F. Lemke, 30, of West Allis, last Saturday. The Duluth News Tribune reported that Pionk served with the 3rd Cavalry, 2nd Squadron, based out of Fort Lewis, Wash. He is the 69th person with strong Minnesota ties to die in connection with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Funeral services were set for Friday for another Minnesota soldier. Army Pfc. Joshua R. Anderson, 24, of Jordan, died Jan. 2 in Kamasia, Iraq, when an explosive went off near his vehicle. (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)