Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police William Ginter died after contracting smallpox while fumigating a house following the borough's case of the disease.
The victim had come to town and died at his parents' home. Chief Ginter buried the body and then fumigated the house. Several days later Chief Ginter suddenly became ill and died after having contracted the disease.
Chief Ginter was a widower and was survived by his young daughter.
Survivors
Chief Ginter was a widower and was survived by his young daughter.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-756C11F1- 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 Ginter served with the Blairsville Borough Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Blairsville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Ginter.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police William H. Ginter 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 PA, 121 of 1,261 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.6% of this state's fallen. That is 0.5 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William H. Ginter's cause is highlighted.
How William H. Ginter Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. William H. Ginter is highlighted in Dec.