Osceola, TX – World War II veteran Albert Sulak, 94, who was killed early Wednesday morning when his house exploded in Osceola, near Itasca, in Hill County, was a lifelong Central Texas farmer and rancher.
A Rosary will be recited at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Aderhold Funeral Home Chapel in West.
Visitation follows until 8 p.m.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church of the Assumption.
Sulak will be buried with military honors at St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Sulak was born on Oct. 9, 1922 in West.
His wife of nearly 67 years, Caroline, died in October 2012.
The explosion at around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday was reported by a motorist on FM 934 who felt the earth shake and then saw the ruins of the house in the 1200 block of Hill County Road 934, about 10 miles northwest of Hillsboro.
Officials at the scene said a gas buildup resulting from a leak in a nearby propane tank may have caused the explosion.
According to investigators, Sulak purchased propane twice in the last four months.
The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the gas lines in the area, and representatives from a propane company went to the house and completed several tests on the equipment, and it all passed, authorities said.
So we will most likely be ruling this as an accidental ignition, and close the case, Hill County Chief Deputy Rick White said.