Kenneth Lewis Church
Agency patch
Trooper

Kenneth Lewis Church

Illinois State Police — Springfield, IL
Accident Veteran
End of Watch December 5, 1931
Age 36
Tour of Duty 7 yrs
The Vigil Panel 63 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Trooper Kenneth Church was killed in a motorcycle accident on Route 2 near Dixon, Illinois. He was returning from a funeral escort in Amboy, Illinois, when his vehicle was struck head-on by another vehicle. Trooper Church was a U.S Army veteran of WWI and had served with the Illinois State Police for seven years.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife and one child.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-AAB81CA8
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

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.
Trooper Church gave the Illinois State Police 7 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Illinois, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

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

Agency

Location Springfield, IL
Platform Identity ilsp.il.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch December 5, 1931
Tour of Duty 7 yrs
Age 36
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

Kenneth Lewis Church served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.

Trooper Kenneth Lewis Church is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In IL, 354 of 1,318 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 26.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Illinois State Police, 49 of 67 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 73.1% of this agency's fallen.

Illinois State Police
49
of 67 officers
73.1% Accident
IL — Statewide
354
of 1,318 officers
26.9% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Kenneth Lewis Church's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Kenneth Lewis Church Compares

Age at End of Watch
36
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
7
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Kenneth Lewis Church is highlighted in Dec.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Incident Location