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Patrick Forde
Agency patch
Sergeant

Patrick Forde

Chicago Police Department — Chicago, IL
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic → Illness
United States flag Illinois flag
End of Watch May 13, 1920
Age 59
Tour of Duty 22 yrs
The Vigil Panel 88 · Column 1 · Line 8 ›
Gender Male
Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Also Remembered Department 570

Incident

Sergeant Patrick Forde died as a result of complications from influenza while performing his assigned duties during the Influenza Pandemic.

The second wave of influenza in Chicago was first reported at the Great North Lakes Naval Training Station in North Chicago in September 1918. By mid-September, cases had increased significantly, indicating widespread infection in Chicago. Within the next two months, the virus killed 8,500 people in the Chicago area. The Chicago Police Department was tasked with enforcing health regulations implemented to prevent the spread of influenza and with performing its regular police duties.

Sergeant Forde served with the Chicago Police Department for 22 years.

Effects of the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic on Law Enforcement

Also known as "Spanish Flu" or "LaGrippe," the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 to early 1919 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 1919. 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.

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Sergeant Patrick Forde died on May 13, 1920 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 59.

He is one of 201 officers honored here, and one of 22 at Chicago 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.

In Our Keeping

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Stewardship
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Added to badge.nw
August 2, 2026
Last updated
September 9, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

No vaccine, no antibiotics, and you stood the post anyway.
Sergeant Forde gave the Chicago Police Department 22 years.
Thank you for your service to the Chicago community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Forde.

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

Agency

Department Chicago Police Department
Type Police Department
Location Chicago, Cook County, IL
Platform Identity cpd.cook.il.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 13, 1920
Tour of Duty 22 yrs
Age 59
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness
Cause Detail Influenza Pandemic

The Sacrifice · Illness

Patrick 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.

  3. See the roll
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Compare against
I

Time

In 1920, 20 officers in the United States were lost to illness, the 16th heaviest of 108 years on record. The heaviest was 2021, with 564.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

Patrick was 59. 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. Patrick had served 22 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

Chicago Police Department has at least 120 officers remembered here, Patrick among them.

Across the years

Sergeant Patrick Forde

Chicago Police Department · End of Watch May 13, 1920

Where the Name Is Cut

Also Remembered

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