Wilson Noah Holbrook, Sr.
Agency patch
Sheriff

Wilson Noah Holbrook, Sr.

Illness Veteran
End of Watch May 20, 1902
Age 63
Tour of Duty 16 yrs
The Vigil Panel 17 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Sheriff Wilson Holbrook died ten days after contracting smallpox from a prisoner in the county jail.

Sheriff Holbrook was a Civil War veteran and had served as the county sheriff for 16 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his second wife and 13 children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-VA-28B4C895
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 served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Sheriff Holbrook gave the Wise County Sheriff's Office 16 years.
Thank you for your service to the Wise community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

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

Agency

Location Wise, VA
Platform Identity wcso.wise.va.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 20, 1902
Tour of Duty 16 yrs
Age 63
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness

Military Service

Wilson Noah Holbrook, Sr. served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.

Sheriff Wilson Noah Holbrook, Sr. 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 VA, 23 of 654 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 3.5% of this state's fallen. That is 5.6 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.

Wise County Sheriff's Office
1
of 1 officers
100% Illness
VA — Statewide
23
of 654 officers
3.5% 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. Wilson Noah Holbrook, Sr.'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 Wilson Noah Holbrook, Sr. Compares

Age at End of Watch
63
This officer
Avg for Illness: 47.8 years
Years of Service
16
This officer
Avg for Illness: 18.9 years

When Illness Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Wilson Noah Holbrook, Sr. is highlighted in May.

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