William Thomas Nye
Agency patch
Deputy Sheriff

William Thomas Nye

Cardiac
End of Watch January 5, 1949
Age 51
Tour of Duty 20 yrs
The Vigil Panel 85 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Deputy Sheriff William Nye suffered a fatal heart attack as he and another deputy walked through a swamp in Sterling Township while preparing to raid a liquor still.

Deputy Nye had served with the Robeson County Sheriff's Office for 20 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and five children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-NC-4C0FE43E
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

20 years. You could have gone home.
Deputy Sheriff Nye gave the Robeson County Sheriff's Office 20 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Lumberton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Nye.

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

Agency

Location Lumberton, NC
Platform Identity rcso.robeson.nc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch January 5, 1949
Tour of Duty 20 yrs
Age 51
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Deputy Sheriff William Thomas Nye 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 NC, 33 of 664 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 5% of this state's fallen. That is 1 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.

At Robeson County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 5 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 20% of this agency's fallen.

Robeson County Sheriff's Office
1
of 5 officers
20% Cardiac
NC — Statewide
33
of 664 officers
5% 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 Thomas Nye'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 Thomas Nye Compares

Age at End of Watch
51
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 48.6 years
Years of Service
20
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 15.6 years

When Cardiac Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. William Thomas Nye 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

Incident Location