Incident
Chief of Police Olen Pass died from the effects of a stroke that he suffered on November 15th, 1941, while on duty.
He was attempting to lift a heavy iron bell while at the North Texas State Teachers College when he suffered the stroke. He never recovered and died two weeks later on November 29th, 1941.
Chief Pass had served as the elected chief of police of the Denton Police Department for almost four years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife, seven children, five grandchildren, and two brothers.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TX-7CC35724- 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 never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Chief of Police Pass gave the Denton Police Department 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the Denton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Pass.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police Olen Chester Pass 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 TX, 204 of 2,421 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 8.4% of this state's fallen. That is 0.7 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At Denton Police Department, 2 of 3 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 66.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Olen Chester Pass's cause is highlighted.
How Olen Chester Pass Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Olen Chester Pass is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Denton Police Department are honored on badge.nw.

