CARNAHAN APPOINTS NEW STODDARD COUNTY CORONER

Gov. Mel Carnahan Thursday named funeral home director Gregory L. Mathis as Stoddard County coroner.

Mathis will fill the unexpired term of Ray Rainey, who died April 2. The term expires at the end of this year. Rainey was in his 40th year as coroner at the time of his death.

Mathis operates the Rainey funeral homes in Dexter and Bernie. He worked for Rainey for 18 years before buying the funeral homes two months ago.

Mathis had served as deputy coroner for the past eight years and is a candidate for coroner in the August Democratic primary.

He will face funeral home owner Melvin Staggs of Bloomfield.

The winner of that election will take office next year because there isn't a Republican candidate.

Mathis said he won't appoint a deputy coroner, but will handle the coroner duties all by himself for the remainder of the year.

Mathis conceded that not everyone wants to be a coroner. A coroner must deal with everything from homicides to natural deaths.

"You don't deal with people under the best of situations," he said.