Paul Ellis Clendening

Illinois State Police — Springfield, IL

Accident Veteran →

End of Watch February 16, 1927

Age 31

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

The Vigil Panel 52 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Military Department 66

Incident

Trooper Paul Clendening was killed in an automobile accident on Lake Street in Elgin, Illinois. Trooper Clendening and his partner were searching for highway bandits when their car went out of control on ice. Trooper Clendening was thrown from the car and then pinned underneath it. Other officers arrived at the scene and it took six men to lift the car off of the trooper. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Trooper Clendening was a 3 year veteran of the Illinois State Police, assigned to District 2, Elgin. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps during WWI.

Survivors

Trooper Clendening is survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-IL-1B80FCA6
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

I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Trooper Clendening gave the Illinois State Police 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Illinois, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

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

Agency

Department Illinois State Police

Type State Police

Location Springfield, IL

Platform Identity ilsp.il.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch February 16, 1927

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

Age 31

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

Paul Ellis Clendening served in the U.S. Marine Corps before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

Trooper Paul Ellis Clendening is one of 10,095 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,587 officers honored here.

In IL, 354 of 1,318 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 26.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Illinois State Police, 49 of 67 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 73.1% of this agency's fallen.

Illinois State Police

of 67 officers

73.1% Accident

IL — Statewide

354

of 1,318 officers

26.9% Accident

Nationwide

10,095

of 32,587 officers

31% Accident