Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer Joseph Simunek died as a result of complications of Spanish Influenza due to an outbreak at the 7th Police District on Magnolia Avenue.
A week earlier, ten officers attached to the Police District were stricken at the same time. Officer Simunek, Officer Ude, and Officer Mandeville were the only officers that died due to the outbreak. All three officers died within 24 hours of each other. At the time of their deaths, the St. Louis Police Department was 175 officers short due to World War I and the Spanish Influenza.
Officer Simunek was survived by his father, sister, and brother.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Police Officer Joseph P. Simunek died on November 12, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 29.
He is one of 201 officers honored here, and one of 5 at St. Louis Metropolitan 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
Officer Simunek was survived by his father, sister, and brother.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MO-F59AB90A- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
No vaccine, no antibiotics, and you stood the post anyway.
Police Officer Simunek served with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the St. Louis community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Simunek.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer Joseph P. Simunek is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In MO, 26 of 813 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 3.2% of this state's fallen. That is 5.9 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, 5 of 176 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 2.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Joseph P. Simunek's cause is highlighted.
How Joseph P. Simunek Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Joseph P. Simunek is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
175 officers from St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
