William Peter Katke, Sr.
Agency patch
Chief of Police

William Peter Katke, Sr.

Pleasant Ridge Police Department — Pleasant Ridge, MI
Cardiac
End of Watch September 29, 1955
Age 59
Tour of Duty 28 yrs
The Vigil Panel 91 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Chief Katke suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after assisting an ambulance crew handle a previous heart attack victim. The chief helped carry the victim to the ambulance. When he returned to his patrol car he collapsed and died at the scene.

Chief Katke had served with the agency for 28 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-MI-0CA7DDD0
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
August 2, 2026
Last updated
August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

28 years. You could have gone home.
Chief of Police Katke gave the Pleasant Ridge Police Department 28 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Pleasant Ridge community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Katke.

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

Agency

Type Police Department
Location Pleasant Ridge, Oakland County, MI
Platform Identity prpd.oakland.mi.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 29, 1955
Tour of Duty 28 yrs
Age 59
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Chief of Police William Peter Katke, Sr. is one of 1 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,756 officers honored here.

In MI, 39 of 718 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 5.4% of this state's fallen. That is 5.4 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

Pleasant Ridge Police Department
1
of 1 officers
100% Cardiac
MI — Statewide
39
of 718 officers
5.4% Cardiac
Nationwide
1
of 97,756 officers
0% Cardiac

National Cause Distribution

How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Peter Katke, Sr.'s cause is highlighted.

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

How William Peter Katke, Sr. Compares

Age at Death
59
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 48.6 years
Years of Service
28
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 15.6 years

When Cardiac Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. William Peter Katke, Sr. is highlighted in Sep.

Jan
124
Feb
105
Mar
99
Apr
116
May
115
Jun
95
Jul
94
Aug
104
Sep
109
Oct
121
Nov
113
Dec
111

Others Who Wore This Badge

0 officers from Pleasant Ridge Police Department are honored on badge.nw.