Topeka ? A 22-year-old from Pleasanton is the fifth Kansan and the 16th soldier from Fort Riley to die while serving in Iraq since fighting began.

The Army post said Monday that Spc. Josph L. Lister died Thursday in Ar Ramadi when the convoy in which he was traveling was hit by a homemade bomb.

Lister graduated from Pleasanton High School in 1999. A teacher at the school remembered the young man as a sometimes headstrong kid who matured after joining the Army.

“He responded pretty good most of the time to some guidance and structure,” John Heidrick said. “He was very proud of what he was doing. He was very proud of being in the Army.”

Heidrick, a retired Air Force intelligence officer, teaches special education classes at Pleasanton High School, helping students with study skills. He said he helped Lister stay organized and focused on school assignments.

Heidrick said duty in Korea had prepared Lister for service in the Gulf.

Lister moved to Pleasanton from Lawrence as a high school freshman to live with his grandparents, Heidrick said. Lister sang in both the school choir and his church choir.

He was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. He joined the Army in August 1999 and had been stationed at Fort Riley since July 2002. He was an armor crewman who deployed to Iraq in September.

He is survived by his wife and an infant son at Fort Riley, a post spokeswoman said.

About 6,500 Fort Riley soldiers are deployed in Iraq. The post deployed 12,000 troops in 1990 for the Persian Gulf War, losing 18 soldiers.

According to accounts from family, Lister was with two other soldiers when the attack occurred.

The news of the post’s 16th death, the third in 10 days, was being felt by families still living at Fort Riley.

“Everyone knows this is to be expected, but this is still very painful,” said Pearl Speer, the post’s director of community services. “Life is going to go on and they’re not going to defeat us in those ways.”

Other soldiers from Kansas to die while fighting in Iraq: Sgt. Jacob Butler, of Wellsville, also of Fort Riley, was killed April 1; Pfc. Ryan R. Cox, of Derby, was killed June 15; Spc. Kyle G. Thomas, of Topeka, was killed Sept. 25; and Spc. Dustin K. McGaugh, of Derby, was killed Sept. 30.