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An Army veteran and father was reportedly delivering medicine when he was killed by the devastating flooding that hit central Texas.
On Monday (July 7), the body of 57-year-old William Govaniavic Venus was found, marking the fifth known death in Burnet County following the deadly flooding, Sheriff's Office Capt. Mike Sorenson told PEOPLE.
Authorities said Venus' body was found about a quarter mile from his car, which was washed into Hamilton Creek amid the flooding. The Army veteran son, William Venus Jr., said his father was delivering medicine, which was his profession, when he was swept away from his car.
Venus Jr. noted that his dad was in the Army for more than 30 years. An Army spokesperson confirmed that the elder Venus served as a senior maintenance supervisor from July 1987 to July 2017, earning several awards during his service.
"He was in Desert Storm," the victim's son said, adding that his father also served in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan before retiring as a command sergeant major.
"He was a servant to whatever community he found himself in," Venus Jr. added. "It didn't matter where he was."
Venus Jr. had taken to social media for help finding his father on Monday. His Facebook post was shared over 6,000 times. Venus Jr. said he received many calls from people all over the world who had worked with his father in the past.
"He was a hero," he said. "God would have been better off taking me because he had a whole lot more work he could have done in this world."
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