Robert Tyrone Kearse Sr.
Police Officer

Robert Tyrone Kearse Sr.

Columbus Police Department — Columbus, GA
Veteran → Illness
End of Watch May 11, 2006
Age 39
Tour of Duty 8 mo
Gender Male

Incident

Police Officer Robert Kearse suffered a fatal asthma attack while en route to an alarm call at 9:00 p.m.

Earlier in the evening, Officer Kearse had responded to a disturbance at a park where he and other officers broke up multiple fights. Immediately afterward, he checked in with dispatch and was winded. While on his way to an alarm call, he called dispatch in distress at 18th Avenue and Wynnton. Officers arrived on the scene and found him unresponsive. Despite life-saving measures, he was unable to be revived.

Officer Kearse was a United States Marine Corps veteran and had served with the Columbus Police Department for eight months.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
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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 salute.nw — U.S. Marine Corps. One record, 2 gates. Robert is one person.

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Tributes

I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Police Officer Kearse served with the Columbus Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Columbus community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

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

Agency

Type Other
Location Columbus, Muscogee County, GA
Platform Identity cpd.muscogee.ga.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 11, 2006
Tour of Duty 8 mo
Age 39
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness

Military Service

Robert Tyrone Kearse Sr. served in the U.S. Marine Corps (1985–1986) before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

The Sacrifice · Illness

Robert 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.

  1. See the roll
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Compare against
I

Time

In 2006, 9 officers in the United States were lost to illness, the 24th heaviest of 108 years on record. The heaviest was 2021, with 564.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

Robert was 39. 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. Robert had served 0.7 years; the middle length of service was 20 years.

Age at death
Where he stood among them
Age by years of service
III

When

May holds 6.2% of these deaths in the United States; October holds the most, 14.9%. Thursdays: 15.7%.

By month
By day of the week
IV

How

Illness deaths account for 7.4% of all 27,552 deaths in the United States, the 3rd most common cause.

Every cause
Weapons recorded
V

His people

Columbus Police Department has 26 officers remembered here, Robert among them.

VI

Where

Police Officer Robert Tyrone Kearse Sr.

Columbus Police Department · End of Watch May 11, 2006

Military Service

Robert Tyrone Kearse Sr. served in the U.S. Marine Corps (1985–1986) before joining law enforcement.

Visit Robert Tyrone Kearse Sr.’s page on salute.nw →

His full service record — units, decorations, where he served — is kept on salute.nw.

Where the Name Is Cut

Also Remembered

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