(Photo Provided) Washington County Coroner Kenneth Leopold smiles with his golden doodle (Teddy). Leopold is retiring after 30 years as the coroner.

Washington County Coroner Kenneth Leopold is set to retire next month after 30 years in office.

“My last day is Jan. 5, 2025,” he said.

He went to medical school and did his residency with Michael Brockett – who he later went into private practice as a general practitioner in Marietta- and they were looking for an area that needed doctors, according to Leopold.

A friend told him the Marietta area needed doctors and he and Brockett came to Marietta to see the area and “people here were so nice,” he said.

“One of the things that really made me come to Marietta, I used to play a lot of golf,” Leopold said.

He was on the 11th hole at the Marietta Country Club and it overlooked Marietta and the Ohio River and he said the mountains were draped in fog and he could see it all and thought “Gosh, it’s just beautiful down in this area.”

So he moved to Marietta and went into private practice with Brockett, then became coroner in 1995.

“I was appointed coroner when Dr. Whitaker retired mid-term…forensic medicine was definitely interesting,” Leopold said.

One of the reasons he decided to become a coroner was because he was looking for a job with a pension and he didn’t want to do family practice, he said.

During his career as coroner, Leopold had a good rapport with Marietta Memorial Hospital and “the people here have always been friendly,” he said.

The workload of the Washington County coroner has increased over the course of his career, Leopold said. When he started the office got 15-25 cases a year and now they get 79 coroner cases and 159 referrals, which are matters that are referred to the coroner but they don’t end up actually being something the coroner addresses for various reasons, he said.

An interesting thing Leopold has seen during his coroner career is how many falls his officedeals with. In 2023 there were 18 overdose death and 18 deaths from falls and in 2024 there have been five overdose deaths and 15 deaths from falls, he said.

“People need to be aware of fall prevention,” Leopold said. “That’s been the biggest change we’ve seen.”

Another thing that Leopold thinks is important is “I hear of the number of people who do not have a primary care physician.”

He said there were 24 deaths so far in 2024 where people didn’t have a primary care physician and it’s important to have one.

Other concerns Leopold has as he leaves office is how doctors and patients need to get better at disease prevention and how people need to start living healthier lifestyles when they are younger.

Over his career he has handled many cases, but there are a few he remembers still, Leopold said.

One case was one where a young Marietta College student was murdered in Williamstown and her body was found in a sewer pipe in Marietta. He worked as a jail physician at the time too and as part of that job he talked to the man convicted of her murder.

“He was the only person that made my skin crawl when I talked to him,” Leopold said.

Another case he remembers is his very first case, in which a women and her child were killed and then their bodies were burned in a house fire in Barlow. He said the police had a good idea of who the killer was but they were unable to get enough evidence to convict the man.

“That case always bothered me because of the perpetrator not being punished,” he said.

Leopold, who is 71, retired from private practice in 2020 and decided to retire as coroner in part because he and his wife Sam “want to enjoy life a little bit”, he said. “I just want to — it sounds cliche – enjoy life.”

Leopold and his wife bought an old mill house in Virginia that was built in 1770, that has a mill pond and seven acres and is totally off the grid and is solar powered, he said.

He built a geodesic greenhouse on the property and during retirement he is “interested in gardening and yard work and reading and just spending time really getting to know things,” he said.

Leopold has six children — two biological children from his first wife, who had passed away, and four “bonus” children from his current wife Sam, four grandchildren and two golden doodles. He plans on spending time with them during retirement.

Leopold is going to miss “dealing with people” the most.

Getting to know people and their families was what he liked the most about private practice.

“So it’s the people I’ll miss the most,” Leopold said.

He said he will also miss working as the coroner.

“It’s just fascinating,” he said.

Roxanne Cech will be taking over as Washington County coroner in January. She won the 2024 general election for the position.

“I think she will do a fine job,” Leopold said of Cech.

He said every year he goes to a state coroner conference and hears how coroners from other Ohio counties talk about their law enforcement agencies and he can’t believe it. He said he has always had excellent support from law enforcement in Washington County and from funeral directors.

He said as long as Cech maintains those relationships “she’ll do just fine.”

“I appreciated my time in Marietta … I’ll always have a fondness in my heart for Marietta … (it’s) a great place to live, but I’m happy to be experiencing new things and going new places,” Leopold said.