On this date (February 20) 1937, a father and mother lost a son, his two brothers and one sister lost a brother, our nation lost a newly appointed Cadet to the United States Army Air Corp and Dallas lost a Police Officer.
Patrolman (Motorcycle Assignment) Ralph Wendell Hoyt, Badge Number 31, age 27, died as a result of injuries sustained on February 19, 1937 after being admitted to Parkland Hospital.
Patrolman Hoyt and his partner E.R. Gaddy were returning from a pursuit of a speeding vehicle, southbound on Lemmon Avenue near Oak Lawn Avenue when his motorcycle entered a deep depression in the roadway.
The depression, the result of a January ice storm caused Patrolman Hoyt to be ejected from his motorcycle and propelled into the curb of the roadway resulting in a serious skull injury.
Patrolman Hoyt was transported to Parkland Hospital where he died the following day as a result of these injuries.
Patrolman Hoyt had applied for pilot training and had been accepted and was to report to Randolph Field, Texas in the near future for the future position as an officer in the United States Army Air Corp.
Patrolman Hoyt, a two year veteran of the Dallas Police Department is interred at the Wichita Park Cemetery and Mausoleum, Wichita, Kansas.