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Police Officer

Thomas Millard Horlacher

Philadelphia Police Department — Philadelphia, PA

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic → Illness

End of Watch September 27, 1918

Age 29

Tour of Duty 1 yrs

The Vigil Panel 79 · Column 2 · Line 18 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Also Remembered Department 378

Incident

Police Officer Thomas Horlacher died from complications of Spanish Influenza due to an outbreak inside the 6th Police District at 11th Street and Winter Street.

As a result of the outbreak, seven police officers and two police sergeants came down with Spanish Influenza.

Due to the devastation of the Spanish Influenza pandemic, Philadelphia Police districts were used as makeshift hospitals. Police officers were ordered to fill and deliver prescriptions, act as pallbearers of victims, placard homes, collect bodies at victims' homes, assist doctors and health officers, and ensure establishments were closed and following guidelines to stop the spread of the flu.

Officer Horlacher served with the Philadelphia Police Department for one year and was attached to the 6th Police District.

Effects of the 1918-1920 Influenza Pandemic on Law EnforcementAlso known as "Spanish Flu" or "LaGrippe," the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 to early 1920, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet’s population—and killed approximately 675,000 Americans. The effect of the influenza epidemic in the United States was so dire that the average life span in the U.S. fell by twelve years. The four waves of the flu began in March 1918 and ended in April 1920. Many officers contracted this virus due to the requirements of their job. The names of every officer who died in the line of duty from the Influenza Pandemic will likely never be known. Still, ODMP researchers continue to uncover new cases as part of our mission never to forget the fallen. Please click here to view ODMP's Influenza memorial, listing all known fallen officers from the pandemic.

Also known as "Spanish Flu" or "LaGrippe," the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 to early 1920, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet’s population—and killed approximately 675,000 Americans. The effect of the influenza epidemic in the United States was so dire that the average life span in the U.S. fell by twelve years. The four waves of the flu began in March 1918 and ended in April 1920. Many officers contracted this virus due to the requirements of their job.

The names of every officer who died in the line of duty from the Influenza Pandemic will likely never be known. Still, ODMP researchers continue to uncover new cases as part of our mission never to forget the fallen.

Please click here to view ODMP's Influenza memorial, listing all known fallen officers from the pandemic.

Effects of the 1918-1920 Influenza Pandemic on Law Enforcement

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Police Officer Thomas Millard Horlacher died on September 27, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 29.

He is one of 201 officers honored here, and one of 45 at Philadelphia Police Department.

The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed more people worldwide than the war that preceded it. Police officers worked it without vaccines, without antibiotics, and often without masks, enforcing quarantines, transporting the sick, and standing posts in cities where the dead outpaced the undertakers.

They caught it doing the job. There was no treatment to give them.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife.

In Our Keeping

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Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Also honored at requiem.nw. One record, 2 gates. Thomas is one person.

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Tributes

No vaccine, no antibiotics, and you stood the post anyway.
Police Officer Horlacher gave the Philadelphia Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Horlacher.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Philadelphia Police Department

Type Police Department

Location Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA

Platform Identity ppd.philadelphia.pa.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 27, 1918

Tour of Duty 1 yrs

Age 29

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness

Cause Detail Influenza Pandemic

The Sacrifice · Illness

Thomas is one of 2,028 officers lost to illness in the United States, 7.4% of the 27,552 remembered there.

34,103 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 1918, 226 officers in the United States were lost to illness, the 3rd heaviest of 108 years on record. The heaviest was 2021, with 564.

Every year on record · United States

Who

Thomas was 29. Of the 1,996 lost to illness in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 42 and 58; the middle age was 51. Thomas had served 1 year; the middle length of service was 20 years.