Robert C. Watson
Sheriff

Robert C. Watson

Larimer County Sheriff's Dept. — Fort Collins, CO
Cardiac
End of Watch January 5, 1979
Age 59
Tour of Duty 28 yrs
The Vigil Panel 121 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Sheriff Watson sufferd a fatal heart attack while interrogating a homicide suspect.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-CO-FBB88321
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

28 years. You could have gone home.
Sheriff Watson gave the Larimer County Sheriff's Office 28 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Fort Collins community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sheriff Watson.

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

Agency

Location Fort Collins, CO
Platform Identity lcso.larimer.co.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch January 5, 1979
Tour of Duty 28 yrs
Age 59
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Sheriff Robert C. Watson is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In CO, 11 of 360 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 3.1% of this state's fallen. That is 0.9 percentage points below the national rate of 4%.

At Larimer County Sheriff's Dept., 2 of 4 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.

Larimer County Sheriff's Dept.
2
of 4 officers
50% Cardiac
CO — Statewide
11
of 360 officers
3.1% Cardiac
Nationwide
1,306
of 32,508 officers
4% Cardiac

National Cause Distribution

How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Robert C. Watson'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 Robert C. Watson Compares

Age at End of Watch
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. Robert C. Watson is highlighted in Jan.

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