Former Hawai'i resident David Robert Shephard, 41, was killed Monday by a suicide bomber in Mosul, Iraq, while working as a contract security agent.

Two other private American security guards and a diplomatic security agent attached to the U.S. State Department died in the suicide attack.

Shephard was born in Hawai'i when his father, retired Lt. Col. David Shephard, was stationed at Schofield Barracks.

Shephard was part Hawaiian through his grandmother Moana Peterson Shephard Murphy and great-grandmother Harriet Hi'ilani Jones Peterson, according to his sister Deane.

As a military dependent, David grew up in various places around the world, including Germany and Iran. He was a graduate of Evergreen College and a licensed general contractor in Washington state.

The former Army Ranger also served in the Army Reserve and the National Guard in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After his military service, he returned to Iraq to work for Blackwater PSD as a contract security agent, stating that he believed in the importance of the American mission there.

He is survived by his parents, David and Karen Shephard, of Shelton, Wash.; his wife, Cindy, of Seattle; and siblings, Deane, Daniel, Michelle and Gabrielle.