Roll of Honor
Merle Wilfred Bethscheider
Incident
Assistant Chief Merle Bethscheider suffered a massive heart attack while in pursuit of a suspect.
Survivors
He was survived by his son, his mother, ad by his brother.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OR-AE3F9D88- 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.
Assistant Chief of Police Bethscheider served with the Silverton Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Silverton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Assistant Chief of Police Bethscheider.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Assistant Chief of Police Merle Wilfred Bethscheider 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 OR, 11 of 197 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 5.6% of this state's fallen. That is 1.6 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Silverton Police Department, 1 of 3 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Merle Wilfred Bethscheider's cause is highlighted.
How Merle Wilfred Bethscheider Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Merle Wilfred Bethscheider is highlighted in May.
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Silverton Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
