Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Never a typical day at the office for Stockwell
Mason County Coroner Wes Stockwell sits at his desk. Stockwell resigned Nov. 29 after 16 years with the county.
Jaime Taylor, Mason County's coroner on an interim basis, says she hopes to fill out the remainder of Wes Stockwell's term.
After a 16-year career as the Mason County Coroner, Wes Stockwell resigned from his position Nov. 29.
Stockwell, 63, worked for the Washington State Patrol for 27 years before being appointed the Coroner in 2005 after coroner Martha Reed died of leukemia. Stockwell ran for office in 2006 unopposed and has ran four times unopposed for the position.
He has a Master's degree in Public Administration and a bachelor's degree in public policy. His experience at WSP prepared him for what he would see on the job.
"I really had no thoughts of doing it, it just seemed like a natural transition to be an investigator," Stockwell said. "There are lots of law enforcement in the job as investigators. We aren't medical, we are the investigators. I have a doctor who works for me, a pathologist and they're the ones that do all the medical stuff so we're like the police, we go to the scene, investigate, decide what we have and then in the police world, pass the case off to the prosecutor, the legal expert, but in our case, we pass the case off to our medical expert, the pathologist. I already had previous experience to that and unfortunately, dead people in car wrecks and things like that. This job exposed me to a lot more than I ever thought about, not everyone dies peacefully in bed with their hands across their chest."
He remembers his first call when he was appointed, a man who killed himself with a gun.
Since then, he's seen it all. From bodies that have been found below the high steel bridge to people who simply died while sitting in a recliner.
There's never a typical day in this job and Stockwell said there's about 15 nonmedically attended deaths per month. If someone dies outside of a medical setting, the medics will confirm the person deceased, the police go to make sure there is no crime and then the coroner shows up to do the forensic side.
"It can be anything from elderly person who's died in their recliner at home during the night," Stockwell said. "A person who's jumped off the steel bridge up in the national forest. It can be car wrecks, it can be suicide. You never know. Homicides, everything, and we go to everything. We are the authority for any person who dies from an unnatural cause. It's a wide variety, you just never know, and that's what makes it so interesting. Seeing how people live, three are a lot of different situations you run into, it's like the hoarding, people that live alone and don't have any friends, relatives and they die and they're not discovered for days, weeks, months and things like that."
Stockwell was born and raised in Mason County and he loves the job because it allows him to bring peace and comfort to families who are grieving. Being from the county, he said it's easier to do his job when he doesn't know the person who died or the loved ones still alive.
"The deceased, you treat them with dignity, care, but that's relatively easy but it's the next of kin that is really rewarding to work with," Stockwell said.
Stockwell wanted to thank his deputy, Jane Pentz, who worked with Stockwell during his entire tenure as coroner. Stockwell said Pentz is his "hugger," who will help console families following the death of a loved one. Families will send Pentz letters because of how much she helped with the grieving process.
Stockwell said the job is not fun, but it is interesting.
"I've had employees tell me, doesn't it just build up and build up, body after body after body, doesn't it build up till you explode and the answer is some people it might be but they shouldn't be in the job," Stockwell said. "For me, it's more of you take it one thing at a time and that's it. It's just one compartmentalized thing and you deal with that and then you move on to the next. ...You just move on, that's what you do. My thoughts have always been that bad things happen to people, sometimes, and somebody has to be there to take responsibility."
Mason County has had an interlocal agreement with Kitsap County for their pathology services and performs autopsies. Jamie Taylor works for both Kitsap and Mason County as a deputy coroner and she is taking over on an interim basis.
The democratic committee will nominate three people in January to take over the rest of Stockwell's term, which ends in 2022. Taylor hopes to be nominated to finish out Stockwell's term and has worked with him for 15 years.
Taylor also owns Union Square Deli and one day, Stockwell came in and told her he was a deputy coroner, and that's something she had always wanted to do, so she started going on calls with him.
"He sent me to a lot of schooling. I was very thankful for Wes, he's really been my mentor," Taylor said.
Stockwell has accepted a job on the operations team at the new health club facility at Steamboat Athletic and Tennis Club. After his time as coroner, Stockwell is satisfied with everything he's accomplished and thinks he will miss the work.
"I feel very comfortable leaving the office. It's really easy to stagnate and not want to change your ways. I think, throughout the years, I've brought the office up to speed on things like our autopsy facility and we use an internet database for everything now," Stockwell said. "... I just had one of my employees say to me the other day, 'Wes, whatever we want, you get us. That's so great, I appreciate that.' ... I think the office is up to a professional standard as high as it can be but we'll see."
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