Walter Edwin Rappolee Jr.
Officer

Walter Edwin Rappolee Jr.

Wichita Falls Police Department — Wichita Falls, TX
Accident
End of Watch August 22, 1968
Age 23
Tour of Duty 2 yrs
The Vigil Panel 104 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Officer Rappolee and Officer Robert Fellows were crushed to death when a wall fell onto their patrol car. A large fire had destroyed a section of downtown Wichita Falls and the two officers were sitting in their patrol car in front of one of the damaged buildings when the wall collapsed and landed on top of the car. Officer Rappolee had served with the Wichita Falls Police Department for just over 2 years.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-TX-FAED3684
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.
Officer Rappolee gave the Wichita Falls Police Department 2 years.
Thank you for your service to the Wichita Falls community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Rappolee.

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

Agency

Type Other
Location Wichita Falls, TX
Platform Identity wfpd.wichita.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch August 22, 1968
Tour of Duty 2 yrs
Age 23
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Officer Walter Edwin Rappolee Jr. 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 TX, 657 of 2,422 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27.1% of this state's fallen. That is 27.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Wichita Falls Police Department, 4 of 7 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 57.1% of this agency's fallen.

Wichita Falls Police Department
4
of 7 officers
57.1% Accident
TX — Statewide
657
of 2,422 officers
27.1% Accident
Nationwide
1
of 97,772 officers
0% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Walter Edwin Rappolee Jr.'s cause is highlighted.

Felonious
1 (0%)
Accident
1 (0%)
Illness
1 (0%)
Cardiac
1 (0%)
Undetermined
1 (0%)
Suicide
1 (0%)

How Walter Edwin Rappolee Jr. Compares

Age at Death
23
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
2
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Walter Edwin Rappolee Jr. is highlighted in Aug.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
708
May
848
Jun
797
Jul
899
Aug
938
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897