Victoria, BC – On this day in 1959, traffic slowed to a halt as motorists pulled to the side of the road and got out of their vehicles to honour fallen VicPD Constable Earle Michael Doyle. Cst. Doyle’s funeral procession moved down Quadra Street en route to his final resting place in Saanich.
The 28-year-old constable, who had only been with the department a year and a half, was serving in our Traffic division when he was killed on duty. Cst. Doyle was riding his VicPD motorcycle northbound in the3100-block of Douglas Street at approximately 9:00 pm on July 12th, 1959, when a driver turned in front of him. Despite wearing a motorcycle helmet, that had been issued two weeks earlier, he suffered life-threatening injuries. His new helmet appeared to have come unlatched during the collision.
Cst. Earle Doyle succumbed to his injuries in hospital the next day, July 13th, 1959. He was 28 years old. He left behind his wife Grace and young family of three children, Shannon, Kathleen and Kevin.
A week later, citizens lined the streets while uniformed Victoria Police Department and RCMP officers accompanied him on motorcycles and on foot to his final resting place.
Today, we remember fallen Cst. Earle Michael Doyle.
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