Incident
Trooper Donald R. Blickensderfer was killed when his squad car collided head-on with another car on U.S. 36, one mile west of Pierson Station, in Piatt County. The accident occurred just before 11:00 p.m. The driver and passenger of the other car involved also died in the accident. Trooper Donald Blickensderfer, a Navy veteran who served in the Korean War, joined the Illinois State Police on February 24th, 1963. He was originally assigned to District 15, Oak Brook and transferred to District 10, Pesotum in August of 1966.
Survivors
Trooper Blickensderfer is survived by his wife, two daughters, parents, brother, and sister.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-3FF773BF- 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 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 Blickensderfer gave the Illinois State Police 7 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
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Donald R. Blickensderfer served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Trooper Donald R. Blickensderfer 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 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.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Donald R. Blickensderfer's cause is highlighted.
How Donald R. Blickensderfer Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Donald R. Blickensderfer is highlighted in Sep.
Incident Location
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