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In a second-row pew at San Jose Parish, Daniela Vizcaino sat with her husband, Fernando Alcal , at her side, 2-month-old son Jes£s in her arms and memories of a cousin lost to war swirling around her mind.

She and Eric Vizcaino, a 21-year-old West Mesa High School graduate who died in Iraq on Monday, grew up together, separated by one year in age.

As mourners trickled out of the church Thursday, Daniela Vizcaino remembered her cousin as a loving and athletic boy, an Atlanta Braves fanatic, and a guy always up for a bike ride, a soccer match or even the occasional light existential talk.

"We would wonder how Jesus would laugh," Daniela said. Ditto for Our Lady of Guadalupe, though no conclusions were reached.

Celebrating a Thanksgiving Day Mass is common practice for Catholics, but at San Jose, the day - better known as Acci¢n de Gracias - hadn't much festivity to offer. Eric Vizcaino's life was a main topic in the Rev. Gabriel Paredes' homily. It was mentioned in the prayers of the faithful, too.

At the end of Mass, while two musicians played a tune about peace, thanks and destiny titled "Hoy Se¤or," fully half the church crowded around the family, well-wishing, hugging and crying.

Vizcaino died from injuries suffered in what the military says was a noncombat related incident. Details weren't immediately available from the Army on Wednesday.

He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Vizcaino is survived by his wife, Sabrina, and 2-year-old daughter, Jasmine. They were scheduled to arrive in Albuquerque on Thursday after traveling from their home at Fort Bragg. Another memorial service is planned for Sunday at San Felipe de Neri Church.

"He had a lot of love to give all the time," Daniela said, as she drifted back to June 12, 1999 - her quincea¤era.

She danced with Eric then. He didn't know what he was doing, "but he didn't care," she said. "He looked cute."

The two last met in August of 2005, when he returned from base in North Carolina.

"He was always in his uniform," Daniela said. "He came back happy, because he had new tattoos."

Besides the barbed-wire image around his arm, the occasion was all the more special because he was able to meet Daniela's 2-year-old daughter for the first time.

Looking down at Jes£s, she added, "he didn't get to meet this one."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.