Roll of Honor
Incident
Lieutenant Thomas suffered a fatal heart attack after striking his chest while attempting to free his patrol car, which had become stuck in snow. He struck his chest on the trunk of the car after slipping on snow while attempting to push the vehicle free. He became ill and collapsed a short time later.
Lieutenant Thomas had served with the agency for 15 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OH-A769511A- 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.
Lieutenant Thomas gave the Gates Mills Police Department 15 years.
Thank you for your service to the Gates Mills community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant Thomas.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Lieutenant Earl David Thomas 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 OH, 43 of 991 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.3% of this state's fallen. That is 0.3 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Earl David Thomas's cause is highlighted.
How Earl David Thomas Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Earl David Thomas is highlighted in Dec.