Chester Arthur Kuhns
Agency patch
Private

Chester Arthur Kuhns

Pennsylvania State Police — Harrisburg, PA
Illness
End of Watch October 6, 1918
Age 29
Tour of Duty 1 yrs 4 mo
The Vigil Panel 34 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Private Chester Kuhns died after contracting the Spanish Flu while in the performance of his duties.

Due to the devastation of the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918 members of the Pennsylvania State Police had been ordered to perform duties such as, assisting nurses and doctors in taking care of influenza victims, serve as pallbearers of influenza victims, assisting health officers, transporting victims to and from hospitals, and to police the Borough of Exeter after the two members of their police force succumbed to the influenza.

Private Chester Kuhns had served with the Pennsylvania State Police for 16 months and was assigned to Troop C, Pottsville, present-day Troop L, Reading.

Survivors

He was survived by his parents and four siblings.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-0F39C337
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

You barely got started.
Private Kuhns gave the Pennsylvania State Police 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the people of Pennsylvania. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Private Kuhns.

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

Agency

Location Harrisburg, PA
Platform Identity pasp.pa.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 6, 1918
Tour of Duty 1 yrs 4 mo
Age 29
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness

Private Chester Arthur Kuhns is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In PA, 121 of 1,261 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.6% of this state's fallen. That is 0.5 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.

At Pennsylvania State Police, 10 of 87 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 11.5% of this agency's fallen.

Pennsylvania State Police
10
of 87 officers
11.5% Illness
PA — Statewide
121
of 1,261 officers
9.6% Illness
Nationwide
2,974
of 32,508 officers
9.1% Illness

National Cause Distribution

How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Chester Arthur Kuhns'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 Chester Arthur Kuhns Compares

Age at End of Watch
29
This officer
Avg for Illness: 47.8 years
Years of Service
1.3
This officer
Avg for Illness: 18.9 years

When Illness Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Chester Arthur Kuhns is highlighted in Oct.

Jan
294
Feb
198
Mar
185
Apr
226
May
201
Jun
181
Jul
217
Aug
281
Sep
291
Oct
376
Nov
239
Dec
285

Incident Location