Roll of Honor

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Sheriff

Robert Bornholdt

O'Brien County Sheriff's Department — Primghar, IA

Accident

End of Watch November 30, 1966

Age 43

Tour of Duty 10 yrs

Badge 71-1

The Vigil Panel 102 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 1

Incident

Sheriff Robert Bornholdt was killed in an automobile crash in Wright County while transporting prisoners to a state facility in southeast Iowa. Sheriff Bornholdt had served with the O'Brien County Sheriff's Office for 10 years before being appointed sheriff in July 1966. He was elected to the position in November 1966, less than one month before he was killed.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-IA-F7720E44
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.
Sheriff Bornholdt gave the O'Brien County Sheriff's Department 10 years.
Thank you for your service to the Primghar community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sheriff Bornholdt.

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

Agency

Department O'Brien County Sheriff's Department

Location Primghar, IA

Platform Identity ocso.obrien.ia.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 30, 1966

Tour of Duty 10 yrs

Age 43

Badge Number 71-1

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Sheriff Robert Bornholdt 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 IA, 71 of 226 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.4% of this state's fallen. That is 0.4 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At O'Brien County Sheriff's Department, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.

O'Brien County Sheriff's Department

of 2 officers

50% Accident

IA — Statewide

of 226 officers

31.4% 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. Robert Bornholdt'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 Bornholdt Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

Years of Service

This officer

Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Robert Bornholdt is highlighted in Nov.

Jan

820

Feb

730

Mar

748

Apr

707

May

847

Jun

795

Jul

897

Aug

937

Sep

913

Oct

925

Nov

872

Dec

897

Others Who Wore This Badge

1 officer from O'Brien County Sheriff's Department are honored on badge.nw.