Former York County coroner Kathryn Fourhman, first female coroner in Pa., has died

Kathryn L. Fourhman, who served as York County Coroner from 1973 to 1998 and became the first woman coroner in Pennsylvania, has died. She was 93, according to her obituary.

Fourman was named acting coroner when her boss, Dr. H. Malcolm Reed, died in 1972, and she was elected to the position the following year, according to a York Daily Record article in October 1983.

Fourhman, who was referred to as an angel of death, spoke about cases she saw, the grief of the families and being on call around the clock.

"The coroner sees the worst," she said in 1983. "They see the accidents which could have been prevented.

"I tell myself, 'You can't make this death go away. But maybe you can prevent another one,'" she said.

She took the office beyond investigating and reporting on deaths to trying to prevent them, the article said.

She served on the Governor's Task Force Committee to help draft a new drunk driving law, the article states. Her obituary noted other programs she was involved in: child safety seats for children, seatbelt safety, motorcycle safety and suicide education.

In her career, Fourhman saw more than 10,580 dead bodies, according to a York Daily Record article in December 1997. She wrote a book about her experiences. It's called "Death is a Funny Thing."

Outside of her job, Fourhman served on numerous boards and was a founder of York City Dollars for Scholars, her obituary states.

Fourhman died on Saturday, Nov. 4 at Bristol Medical Center in Tennessee, the obituary states.

The family has requested that memorial donations be sent to York City Dollars for Scholars, Inc., P.O. Box 2261, York, PA 17405-2261 or online at yorkcity.dollarsforscholars.org.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Former York County coroner Kathryn Fourhman, first female coroner in PA, has died