The life of a coroner familiar for Butler County’s Korynne Young
Butler County Coroner Korynne Young remembers when it “clicked” that in her family, work must come first.
She was between 8 and 11 years old when her mother drove her and her brothers to grandma’s for cake and ice cream to celebrate her birthday. Her father had to stay behind after receiving a call from the funeral home, so he gave Young’s gift to her mother.
“So, he wasn’t able to go to my birthday party because he was taking care of another family,” Young said. “I was used to it. My whole life, we live in our funeral home. I was used to that.”
Young said she was ecstatic over her father’s birthday gift and wanted to call her dad to thank him. Her father frequently picked up when she would call the funeral home’s business line, but this time, someone from the funeral home’s answering service answered.
“And they’re like, ‘oh, sweetie, he’s working right now,’” Young said. “I was young and I started to cry on the phone because I was like, ‘what do you mean my dad can’t talk to me?’ And my mom just said, ‘honey, he’s working.’ That’s all I’ve known.”
Young said that was the moment she realized the nature of her family’s role and its importance.
She said her father was also very open with her as a child about conducting autopsies at the funeral home. She knew an autopsy meant someone had died unnaturally.
“Our minor paper-cut problem is nothing compared to someone who just lost a loved one,” she said.
Now, Young herself has left early from birthday parties and weekend getaways. She’s missed family vacations and she’s come home to many cold dinners after joining the Butler County Coroner’s Office in 2022.
That trend will continue into the new year. She took office as coroner Monday, Jan. 5.
“I never thought I would be 25 and be a coroner,” Young said.
Young also drives herself everywhere in case she receives a coroner call where she needs her vehicle and equipment.
“(The) funeral service and service to the death industry is nonstop, 24/7, every day of the year,” she said.
Young said her family instilled in her that a person’s soul leaves the body after death and her job is to take care of their remains as a hospital would a living patient. That’s why the coroner’s office has pillows and blankets.
“We go into people’s homes. We’re taking care of their deceased loved one — in a unique way — but we do offer care,” Young said.
As a child at the funeral home, Young was used to seeing elderly people who lived a long, full life and got sick and died. She knew the coroner’s office was different. Many of the deaths coroners responded to were unnatural and required investigation.
With her funeral background, Young said she was known by her friends as the person to come to when a death occurs. She remembers friends calling her when their relative was put on hospice care and asking what that means and being asked what to expect at a funeral.
“I’m called to be a servant,” Young said. “That’s truly how I think.”
Young also operates the William F. Young Funeral Home and a nearby cemetery in West Sunbury. Her cousin, outgoing coroner William Young III, operates Young Funeral Home in Butler, which also acted as the county’s morgue. With the new coroner, a new facility behind the coroner’s office is expected to be completed in the next couple of months.
When investigating an unnatural death, the coroner’s job is to figure out the deceased’s identity and determine the cause and manner of death from an autopsy. She said she works with police to find the identity, which can vary in difficulty depending on the situation. Sometimes, descendants have their identification on them. At other times, they can be discovered long after death, making them harder to identify.
“You know, you don’t check in with every single person you know every day, so it unfortunately happens,” Young said.
Young said police usually leave death scenes undisturbed until the coroner arrives. Police will often make sure firearms are no longer dangerous or the forensic team will take their measurements in vehicle deaths, but decedents are her realm. Young said she often has pulled needles out of people’s pockets in overdose deaths.
She also has been called with other emergency services to respond during inclement weather. She recalled one experience where she responded to a call in a snowsuit after securing a four-wheel-drive vehicle and was on the scene for hours.
She said her friends and family, especially the Young family, were very excited when they heard Young had been elected. They went out to dinner the night of May 20 to celebrate, even though Young was exhausted.
They also helped Young circulate petitions and post 750 yard signs throughout the county, Young said.
“I do have some family and friends (who) are apprehensive of the fact that I’m 25 and look what I’m going to see,” Young said. “That’s why you have to have hobbies I’m not all death all the time.”
Young knows she can’t talk about her day as a coroner to the average person without getting shock and horror in return. She said the coroner’s office employees use each other to decompress and she can always talk to her cousin, the former coroner. When all else fails, she’ll sit in her kayak on Lake Arthur and pet her dog.
“You step back. You talk to the right people. You get help,” Young said.
The coroner may also work with the district attorney in requesting each other’s reports or the sheriff’s office may help her locate next of kin, Young said. She will also work with fire department resources when the Jaws of Life or an off-road utility vehicle is needed for extrication.
“We have a large county to cover,” Young said. “Everyone in the office is staying on as of January.”
Young said Chief Deputy Coroner John Hanovick will retain his role. The coroner’s office has three full-time employees, two part-time employees and about a dozen special deputies who are called as needed.
“I’m very, very thankful for this opportunity,” Young said. “I want (this office) to be a community resource.”
