Since I already have a PC, that just means we lose our party wizard. He would remain dead and would not be replaced.You could let him die and then make your own mage. May upset the DM, but then you can make what you want. You could also first ask the DM to let you remake the character over since you now control him.
They are a hill dwarf.
Thanks everyone, a lot of good ideas here. Will probably either go with magic initiate or just take mage armor as a spell at next level up.