Carl F. Hille

Cincinnati Police Department — Cincinnati, OH

Accident

End of Watch July 15, 1942

Age 35

Tour of Duty 13 yrs

Badge 384

The Vigil Panel 176 ›

Gender Male

Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 105

Incident

Sergeant Carl Hille was killed when a gas line exploded on Sycamore Street. Sergeant Hille responded to the report of a gas smell at the Hodge Drive-it-Yourself Co. at 511 Sycamore Street between 6th Street and 7th Street. As he walked into the building, the gas exploded. Sergeant Hille's body was hurled fifty feet in the air over the Saint Xavier Grade School and ended up in an alley behind the Convent of Notre Dame. He was killed instantly from a comminuted skull fracture. Four others were killed, and sixteen others were injured, some critically. Sergeant Hille had served with the Cincinnati Police Division for 13 years. He was survived by his wife and four children. He is buried in Vine Steet Cemetery. Sergeant Hille had been a legendary fast-pitch softball pitcher. In 1922, he started 69 games and lost only one. In 1954, the Cincinnati Recreation Commission converted what was once known as Lucky Circus grounds into a baseball field and, in 1960, dedicated the field in Sergeant Hille's memory. Over the years, the field fell into disrepair. During the mid-1990s, Elder High School repaired the field and used it as its home field. The field was rededicated on April 18, 1998, as the Carl F. Hille Memorial Field. Sergeant Hille's grandson joined the Cincinnati Police Department in the 1970s and retired as a Police Sergeant near the turn of the Century. Sergeant Hille's great-grandson joined the Cincinnati Police Department as a Police Officer in 2004.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and four children.

In Our Keeping

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Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Sergeant Hille gave the Cincinnati Police Department 13 years.
Thank you for your service to the Cincinnati community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Hille.

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

Agency

Department Cincinnati Police Department

Type Police Department

Location Cincinnati, Hamilton County, OH

Platform Identity cincpd.hamilton.oh.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch July 15, 1942

Tour of Duty 13 yrs

Age 35

Badge Number 384

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

The Sacrifice · Accident

Carl is one of 8,275 officers lost to accidents in the United States, 30% of the 27,551 remembered there.

34,117 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 1942, 65 officers in the United States were lost to accidents, the 65th heaviest of 174 years on record. The heaviest was 1929, with 118.

Every year on record · United States

Who

Carl was 35. Of the 7,718 lost to accidents in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 29 and 46; the middle age was 36. Carl had served 13 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.