William A. Doyle

Fairmount Park Police Department — Philadelphia, PA

Accident

End of Watch January 8, 1945

Age 47

Tour of Duty 21 yrs

The Vigil Panel 81 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 6

Incident

Park Guard William Doyle succumbed to injuries sustained three days earlier when he was thrown from his horse in West Park. While on patrol, Guard Doyle noticed a large group of people rushing towards Concourse Lake. This sort of activity usually indicated someone had fallen through the ice. As Guard Doyle attempted to respond to the scene, his horse slipped on the snowy road, and Guard Doyle was thrown to the ground. He suffered a fractured skull and was taken to Lankenau Hospital, where he later died. Park Guard Doyle had served with the Fairmount Park Police Department for 21 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his two daughters and a grandson.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-PA-93E9EDD0
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

21 years. You could have gone home.
Park Guard Doyle gave the Fairmount Park Police Department 21 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Park Guard Doyle.

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

Agency

Department Fairmount Park Police Department

Location Philadelphia, PA

Platform Identity fppd.philadelphia.pa.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch January 8, 1945

Tour of Duty 21 yrs

Age 47

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Park Guard William A. Doyle is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Fairmount Park Police Department, 5 of 7 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 71.4% of this agency's fallen.

Fairmount Park Police Department

of 7 officers

71.4% Accident

PA — Statewide

417

of 1,261 officers

33.1% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident