Roll of Honor

Prev Next

Sergeant

Richard Lewis Willson

Mineral County Sheriff's Office — Hawthorne, NV

Cardiac

End of Watch July 25, 1994

Age 45

Tour of Duty 3 yrs 2 mo

The Vigil Panel 140 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Sergeant Richard Willson suffered a fatal heart attack following a foot chase and being assaulted. After catching the suspect he was struck in the chest with a crowbar. He returned to headquarters and while doing the arrest paperwork he began to feel sick. He was escorted to the hospital by another officer, at which time he was transferred to second hospital for more tests. En route to the second hospital he suffered the heart attack at approximately 2:30 am. Sergeant Willson had served with the agency for just over three years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-NV-B6E9FCDD
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.

Are you family? This record can be claimed and maintained by those who knew Richard. Claim this record.

This page is permanent and free. No fee to view it, no advertising, no tracking, and no account required. It will not be taken down.

Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Sergeant Willson gave the Mineral County Sheriff's Office 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the Hawthorne community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Willson.

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

Agency

Department Mineral County Sheriff's Office

Location Hawthorne, NV

Platform Identity mcso.mineral.nv.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch July 25, 1994

Tour of Duty 3 yrs 2 mo

Age 45

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Sergeant Richard Lewis Willson 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 NV, 9 of 145 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 6.2% of this state's fallen. That is 2.2 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.

Mineral County Sheriff's Office

of 1 officers

100% Cardiac

NV — Statewide

of 145 officers

6.2% 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. Richard Lewis Willson'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 Richard Lewis Willson Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Cardiac: 48.6 years

Years of Service

3.2

This officer

Avg for Cardiac: 15.6 years

When Cardiac Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Richard Lewis Willson is highlighted in Jul.

Jan

124

Feb

105

Mar

Apr

116

May

115

Jun

Jul

Aug

104

Sep

109

Oct

121

Nov

113

Dec

111