William A. Burgholzer, Jr.
Agency patch
Patrolman

William A. Burgholzer, Jr.

Oswego Police Department — Oswego, IL
Cardiac
End of Watch January 18, 1972
Age 61
Tour of Duty 17 yrs
The Vigil Panel 109 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Patrolman William Burgholzer suffered a fatal heart attack while searching for several suspects who had just robbed a grocery store. He was assisting at a roadblock and had stopped a bus. As he began to search the bus he collapsed.

Patrolman Burgholzer had served with the Oswego Police Department for 17 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-AC488922
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.
Patrolman Burgholzer gave the Oswego Police Department 17 years.
Thank you for your service to the Oswego community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Burgholzer.

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

Agency

Location Oswego, IL
Platform Identity opd.kendall.il.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch January 18, 1972
Tour of Duty 17 yrs
Age 61
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Patrolman William A. Burgholzer, Jr. 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%.

Oswego Police Department
1
of 1 officers
100% Cardiac
IL — Statewide
45
of 1,318 officers
3.4% Cardiac
Nationwide
1,306
of 32,508 officers
4% Cardiac

National Cause Distribution

How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William A. Burgholzer, Jr.'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 William A. Burgholzer, Jr. Compares

Age at End of Watch
61
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 48.6 years
Years of Service
17
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 15.6 years

When Cardiac Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. William A. Burgholzer, Jr. is highlighted in Jan.

Jan
124
Feb
105
Mar
99
Apr
116
May
115
Jun
95
Jul
94
Aug
104
Sep
109
Oct
121
Nov
113
Dec
111