Chad Hutson Littlefield would have turned 36 on Monday. Instead, he will be buried Friday.

Littlefield was killed, along with ex-Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, allegedly by an Iraq war veteran at a shooting range last Saturday south of Fort Worth.

His is a name that has been mentioned, only in passing, ever since Eddie Ray Routh allegedly gunned down him and Kyle at the Rough Creek Lodge and Resort in Glen Rose.

So this is a little bit about the third man in the tragedy. Only by chance – he was Kyle’s neighbor and workout buddy – did he find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. The two had taken Routh to the shooting range in an effort to help smooth the 25-year old Marine veteran’s rocky path back into civilian society.

“As he tried to help another, his life was taken from him suddenly and unexpectedly,” reads the obituary his family posted on the Midlothian Funeral Home’s website. “But, Chad was a Christian and spoke of his Savior often, so Jesus was there waiting for him and took him to the mansion He had prepared for him.”

A proud lifelong resident of Texas, Littlefield was born in Dallas on Feb. 11, 1977, and graduated from DeSoto High School in the Dallas suburb of DeSoto in 1995. He was reportedly a military veteran.

Littlefield was employed by DeSoto’s Eagle Labs, Inc., an oil-services firm, as the facilities and logistics manager. He is survived by his wife, Leanne, a Midlothian middle-school assistant principal, and their daughter, Morgan.

“Chad would tell you he was a regular guy just taking care of business, and was happiest spending time with his family and friends,” the family’s obituary says. “His family and friends would tell you he was a `rock,’ always there when you needed him, dependable and responsible, ready to grab you in his arms to let you know he loved you and everything would be all right.”

Littlefield’s funeral is set for Friday, Feb. 8, at 2 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Midlothian, followed by burial at Mount Zion cemetery.

Kyle’s memorial service is slated for Monday at Cowboys Stadium. No cameras or purses will be allowed. He will be buried Tuesday at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin on Tuesday.