" It is sad to lose a child, but why hadn't she been in a babybed or playpen and not between two people in a bed?
Man I would be scared roll on this
child and in sleep she suffocate.
I hope people in future take heed about sleeping in bed with infants. Tell Marge sorry also for the loss of her grandchild. "

" Much has been written in the opinions section of the paper and in the online blogs about Mr. Schiers' compassion and Mr. Nichols' alleged lack of it. But have any of you considered the real duties of the coroner? Look them up by Googling "Coles Co. IL government" and follow the link to coroner. Under FAQ's it lists the duties of the coroner. None of them are comforting the survivors, but nearly all of them are duties that require professional objectivity -- which requires, in turn, emotional distance. It would be extremely hard to maintain that objectivity if you are making emotional connections with the families and other witnesses involved. Bear in mind that the coroner only becomes involved under certain circumstances, and the proper investigation of those circumstances could easily become quite muddied with emotion. A funeral home employee's job is quite different -- the entire purpose is to comfort the family and loved ones of the deceased. "

" How comfortable would you be stepping into the role of coroner today? Are you prepared to handle death scene investigations, order autopsies to determine manner of death, handle evidence in the appropriate manner, notify families of the loss of their loved one, or any of the multitude of other responsibilities of the position? Why do you think that Ed Schniers is any more prepared, educated, or experienced to handle these situations than you would be?
Schniers literature states that he has worked in the funeral industry but in what capacity? He is not a licensed funeral director or embalmer, so is relegated to washing cars, mowing the lawn, cleaning, opening the doors at visitation, etc. What qualities of that job have prepared him for the office of coroner? If you got the impression that he works with the families and bodies, then you are being misled either that or Mr. Schniers is working outside what is legal and ethical by doing so without a license.
Why does Mr. Schniers not list the type of degree he received from Eastern Illinois University? Does this degree not give him any relevant experience that will benefit the office of coroner?
THIS IS NOT A POPULARITY CONTEST. This is an important position; one that may impact any one of our families in the future. Regardless of your party affiliation, please vote for the candidate that will run the coroners office as it should be run, with experience, integrity, and honesty. MIKE NICHOLS is the only sensible candidate for coroner -- the only one with the experience. "

" Bear in mind that the coroner only becomes involved under certain circumstances.

Unless a person dies in a hospital or nursing home the coroner always becomes involved, which means he is dealing with grieving people, which means he has a duty to be compassionate. "

" Wrong, medic. If a person (such as someone with a terminal illness) has been seen by a physician within 24 hours, the coroner is not called in. I believe the same is true if an elderly person dies of presumably natural causes -- the family calls the funeral home, they come pick up the body. The coroner doesn't come to the person's house to investigate. "

" Medic, I quote from the Coles Co. IL homepage, regarding the circumstances in which a coroner becomes involved in a death: "The County Coroner is notified when a death warrants investigation. The Coroner works in conjunction with the police and sheriff to investigate all county deaths of a violent nature, by undue means, or where a crime may have been committed (accidental, homicide, or suicide). The coroner may hold an inquest to determine how a person died and other facts concerning the death. As soon as the Coroner completes his investigation of the cause and manner of death, he files the death record with the local registrar (municipal or county clerk), who certifies it."

Not all deaths warrant investigation, such as when an elderly person dies in their sleep at home. "

" I would personally want people to leave me alone, I wouldn't want the coroner up in my face sharing his sympathy, everyone is going to be sympathetic to you why would you want to make friends with the coroner on the side after a relatives death, this is simply about popularity, how many friends can Ed Schniers get to write these letters "

" "Hahvahd"....yes I have researched the role of coroner and what part of the duties to be carried out did you not want to understand ? Helping with funeral arrangements....organ donorship to name a few require a coroner to have people skills beyond belief in working with grieving familes during a time of crisis. And as you now realize Mr. Nichols has no skill in working with people. I appreciate your ability to take in knowledge and share it....pass the word....Schniers for coroner !!! "

" Hahvahd said it perfectly! The coroner's job is investigative in nature. Ed Schnier's does not have the background or education to get the job done.
By the way, some hospital and nursing home deaths do require notification of the coroner... do you think Mr. Schnier's knows which ones? "

" The coroner may hold an inquest to determine how a person died

There hasn't been an inquest in Coles County in years. I guess no strange deaths have taken place. "

" to Old School --- I think you are the one that does not understand the office of coroner. Coroners do not help with funeral arrangements - a licensed funeral director must meet with the family, and Schniers does not qualify. Also, the coroner is not involved with organ donation, except in the rare case where families ask the coroner to contact the harvest facility. Hospital staffers usually talk with family members about donation, and once again, Schniers does not qualify. Maybe you should run for coroner -- you have about as much knowledge about the position as Schniers does. :) "

" to Medic57 --- an inquest is only held when results of an autopsy or information from the medical profession is insufficient to determine manner of death. The coroner uses all available resources to determine manner of death without putting a family through an inquest. I'd say it's pretty compassionate to not have to have a family go through an inquest that is unnecessary. "

" medic57 You stated there hasn't been an inquest in Coles County for years. What do you call "for years" I know there was one about four years ago concerning the deaths of two Coles County residents in vehicular accidents. I was there. One of those deaths was my husbands.I'm fairly sure there have been some since. We've had suicides and other deaths that require inquests since then. "

" 1 inquest in a county with approx 50000 people in 4 years. Must not be any suspisous deaths in Coles County. "

" What about the death at the Graywood Foundation? "

" Medic57 could use a fact checker of his own. LOL! "

" medic57--- There have been coroner's inquests the past few years. There are more, but I didn't include them here.

I left the names out to spare the families any unnecessary grief. You can find them on the internet. I just typed in Coles County Illinois Coroners Inquests and then added the year. I came up with these.

This was in the JG-TC on July 19,2005. " A Coles County coroner's jury will hear evidence Wednesday night on two recent accidental deaths, including that of a Lake Paradise resident who drowned after his tractor overturned into the lake last month while he was mowing.
The victim died on the afternoon of June 13 after he was pinned under the tractor in shallow water. He was mowing near his home on the West Lake Paradise Road.

An EIU student's death was ruled a suicide by a jury of four men and two women at Wednesday night's coroners inquest. He died Dec 6, 2006. The inquest was held in January of 2007. This was in the January 11, 2007 edition of the JG-TC.

You might find this interesting:
The change in Illinois inquest policy took effect Jan. 1, 2007, after several months of lobbying by the Illinois Coroners and Medical Examiners Association.

A coroner is no longer legally bound to perform inquests in cases where the cause of death is relatively obvious.

Inquests are used to determine the cause of death in any death that might have more than one obvious cause.

The previous statute required coroners to provide an inquest into any death that might have a cause of death considered to be anything but natural -no matter how obvious the cause of death.

Inquest proceedings could also sometimes drag out for weeks, during which time a death certificate cannot be provided to the family. As long as there is no death certificate, no death benefits or estate rulings can be handed out the family.

Why should a family have to wait for an inquest in order to obtain these documents when the cause of death is obvious and no foul play is suspected?

Thankfully my husbands inquest just took a short time so I didn't have to wait for a death certificate. I just wish it could have been scheduled a little sooner instead of the six weeks(about) after his death. I was able to get the needed copies of the certificate the next day.

By all means have an inquest if there's questions. If this new statute had been in place when Toby died in that wreck in 2004, we might have been spared the inquest. It was obvious he died in the accident AND in what was left of his pick-up truck. ANYONE there working the accident could have told us that. At that time the coroner had no choice but to order an inquest.

Truthfully, I would have preferred to skip it, but felt we needed to be there to hear any and all testimony concerning his death. "

" "K-Fear.....you are so wrong and you know it regarding the various duties of coroner. Nice try ...I know how facts of this nature continue to blur/blow your mind ...step away from the computer before your head explodes "

" kfear - speaking of lack of knowledge, apparently you know little of the funeral home profession. You are not required to have a license in order to assist a director. As an assistant, Mr. Schniers most certainly can and has assisted funeral directors with removing a deceased, assisting the family, and nearly any other service that a funeral director provides. That's what an assistant does! They assist with everything that the funeral director does. He cannot embalm or make removals alone. The fact that he is humble enough to also park and wash cars, open doors, clean, mow lawns and any other task you are attempting to insult him with only causes me to have that much more respect for him and that much less respect for you.

By the way, do you perform any of these degrading tasks at your funeral home?

Mr. Schniers may or may not know which deaths require notification. If he doesn't know, he can certainly learn. I'm sure there was a point when neither you nor Mr. Nichols knew. Can Nichols learn to not be arrogant or judgemental? Most police officers and investigators recognize that they are public servants and are respectful and professional. Seems to me to be very little to ask considering her infant just died.

Mama - infants also suffocate alone in their own cribs. It is often that fear that motivates parents to bring an infant to bed with them. Let's not be judgemental. This mother has been through enough. "

" I personally don't want my coroner to be compassionate. If the coroner shows compassion to each case, then he has a very high chance of becoming affected mentally and personally. When you're working in a position like coroner, you have to stay as professional and "in the zone" of your job as possible in order to keep your job and your personal well being apart. "

" "itsjustme" which relative of Ed's are you? or are you Ed maybe gosh who knows at this point lol "

" I'm betting that the semi-literate robin2008 is a relative too. "

" I'm betting that when neither of you have an intelligent come back you try to say Ed's supporters are relatives.

I'm not related. "