Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman Charles Lively died as a result of complications from influenza while performing his assigned duties during the Influenza Pandemic.
The Reading Police Department had been tasked with enforcing local health laws to help prevent the spread of influenza, as well as performing their regular police duties.
Patrolman Lively served with the Reading Police Department for nine years.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Patrolman Charles William Lively died on November 3, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 31.
He is one of 201 officers honored here.
The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed more people worldwide than the war that preceded it. Police officers worked it without vaccines, without antibiotics, and often without masks, enforcing quarantines, transporting the sick, and standing posts in cities where the dead outpaced the undertakers.
They caught it doing the job. There was no treatment to give them.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-89C52D37- 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
No vaccine, no antibiotics, and you stood the post anyway.
Patrolman Lively gave the Reading Police Department 9 years.
Thank you for your service to the Reading community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Lively.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman Charles William Lively 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 Reading Police Department, 1 of 9 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 11.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Charles William Lively's cause is highlighted.
How Charles William Lively Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Charles William Lively is highlighted in Nov.
Others Who Wore This Badge
8 officers from Reading Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
