Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police William Leftwich suffered a fatal heart attack while assisting at the scene of an accident on Illinois 84 in front of the Henry County Bank. He began directing traffic around the crash when he complained of chest pains and collapsed. He was transported to a local hospital where he passed away. Chief Leftwich had served with the Colona Police Department for 21 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his two daughters, son, grandchild, and two brothers.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-1E264DEE- 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
21 years. You could have gone home.
Chief of Police Leftwich gave the Colona Police Department 21 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Colona community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Leftwich.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police William Earl Leftwich 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 IL, 45 of 1,318 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 3.4% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points below the national rate of 4%.
At Colona Police Department, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Earl Leftwich's cause is highlighted.
How William Earl Leftwich Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. William Earl Leftwich is highlighted in Jun.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Colona Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
