Harvey A. Varat
Agency patch
Lieutenant

Harvey A. Varat

Illness
End of Watch October 20, 1973
Age 35
Tour of Duty 14 yrs
The Vigil Panel 112 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Lieutenant Harvey Varat succumbed to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever after contracting the disease when he was bitten by a tick. He was participating in a search and rescue training exercise in the Santa Susanna Mountains when he was bitten. Lieutenant Varata had served with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office for 14 years.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-7A317021
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.
Lieutenant Varat gave the Ventura County Sheriff's Office 14 years.
Thank you for your service to the Ventura community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant Varat.

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

Agency

Location Ventura, CA
Platform Identity vcso.ventura.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 20, 1973
Tour of Duty 14 yrs
Age 35
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness

Lieutenant Harvey A. Varat 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 CA, 75 of 1,837 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 4.1% of this state's fallen. That is 5 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.

At Ventura County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 13 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 7.7% of this agency's fallen.

Ventura County Sheriff's Office
1
of 13 officers
7.7% Illness
CA — Statewide
75
of 1,837 officers
4.1% Illness
Nationwide
2,974
of 32,508 officers
9.1% Illness

National Cause Distribution

How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Harvey A. Varat'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 Harvey A. Varat Compares

Age at End of Watch
35
This officer
Avg for Illness: 47.8 years
Years of Service
14
This officer
Avg for Illness: 18.9 years

When Illness Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Harvey A. Varat is highlighted in Oct.

Jan
294
Feb
198
Mar
185
Apr
226
May
201
Jun
181
Jul
217
Aug
281
Sep
291
Oct
376
Nov
239
Dec
285

Incident Location