Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police Harry Yenser suffered a fatal heart attack as he was returning to the scene of a domestic disturbance.
Chief Yenser had responded to a domestic disturbance earlier in the day and had arrested two individuals for disturbing the peace. He had placed both individuals in their cell at the Municipal Building when he suffered a fatal heart attack in his police vehicle in the parking lot. His body was found by two fellow officers and taken inside the building where a doctor was summoned and pronounced him dead.
Chief of Police Yenser served with the Lehighton Borough Police Department for 25 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and a brother who also served with the same agency.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-365B6812- 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
25 years. You could have gone home.
Chief of Police Yenser gave the Lehighton Borough Police Department 25 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Lehighton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Yenser.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police Harry Thomas Yenser 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 PA, 118 of 1,261 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 9.4% of this state's fallen. That is 5.4 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Lehighton Borough Police Department, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Harry Thomas Yenser's cause is highlighted.
How Harry Thomas Yenser Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Harry Thomas Yenser is highlighted in May.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Lehighton Borough Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
