John T. Lewis

Chester City Police Department — Chester, PA

Accident

End of Watch July 17, 1986

Age 42

Tour of Duty 8 yrs

The Vigil Panel 131 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 16

Incident

Police Officer Jack Lewis died as a result of complications from cancer that developed after responding to the Wade Dump Fire on February 2, 1978.

Officer Lewis was assigned to secure the scene the night of the fire. He returned to the site for foot patrol during clean-up and the investigation. Without safety gear, Officer Lewis' uniform smelled of chemicals each time he returned home from his shift.

He was diagnosed with brain cancer in 1985 and died as a result on July 1, 1986.

Officer Lewis served with the Chester Police Department for eight years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-PA-8C2ACDBA
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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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Police Officer Lewis gave the Chester City Police Department 8 years.
Thank you for your service to the Chester community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Lewis.

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

Agency

Department Chester City Police Department

Type Police Department

Location Chester, PA

Platform Identity cpd.delaware.pa.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch July 17, 1986

Tour of Duty 8 yrs

Age 42

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Cause Detail Exposure to toxins

Weapon Toxic chemicals

Police Officer John T. Lewis is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.

In PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 33.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Chester City Police Department, 7 of 17 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 41.2% of this agency's fallen.

Chester City Police Department

of 17 officers

41.2% Accident

PA — Statewide

417

of 1,261 officers

33.1% Accident

Nationwide

of 97,772 officers

0% Accident