Wilburn A. Kelly
Agency patch
Trooper

Wilburn A. Kelly

Florida Highway Patrol — Tallahassee, FL
Accident
End of Watch March 23, 1974
Age 43
Tour of Duty 22 yrs
The Vigil Panel 113 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Trooper Wilburn Kelly was killed in an automobile crash when he was struck from behind while on patrol in St. Augustine. Trooper Kelly had served with the Florida Highway Patrol for 22 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-FL-B889325D
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.

Are you family? This record can be claimed and maintained by those who knew Wilburn. Claim this record.

This page is permanent and free. No fee to view it, no advertising, no tracking, and no account required. It will not be taken down.

Tributes

22 years. You could have gone home.
Trooper Kelly gave the Florida Highway Patrol 22 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the people of Florida. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Trooper Kelly.

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

Agency

Location Tallahassee, FL
Platform Identity fhp.fl.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch March 23, 1974
Tour of Duty 22 yrs
Age 43
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Trooper Wilburn A. Kelly is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In FL, 313 of 1,008 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.1% of this state's fallen. That is 0.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Florida Highway Patrol, 25 of 54 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 46.3% of this agency's fallen.

Florida Highway Patrol
25
of 54 officers
46.3% Accident
FL — Statewide
313
of 1,008 officers
31.1% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Wilburn A. Kelly'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 Wilburn A. Kelly Compares

Age at End of Watch
43
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
22
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Wilburn A. Kelly is highlighted in Mar.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897