MOULTRIE — Two newcomers to Colquitt County politics are seeking the coroner’s post in the Nov. 4 general election in the only county-wide race on the ballot.

Verlyn “Lucky” Brock or Luke Strong III will replace interim Coroner Kevin Wimberly. The duties of the position include determining the cause and manner of deaths in cases where the deceased was not hospitalized under a doctor’s care.

Brock, 63, who began working in a funeral home in his home town of Cairo at the age of 17, said his 46 years of experience in assisting family members in times of grief would be beneficial in the job.

He is the owner of Custom Signs by Brock, a business he has operated since 1980.

“I’m semi-retired to the point that I wanted to stay involved in community activities, and in the same sense stay involved in compassionate, considerate care when someone loses a loved one,” he said. “You’ve got to treat people with the same amount of compassion and respect even (if) the body’s in pretty bad shape because it is someone’s loved one.”

Brock also is a licensed funeral director, and said he has 46 years in professional death-care services, including working in funeral homes in Albany, Cairo and Moultrie.

Brock said as coroner he would work with local police and sheriff’s investigative agencies as well as state agencies including the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and its forensics professionals.

His work in the business also will help him in the investigative duties of coroner, he said.

“With the years of experience in the business you know what to look for, look for signs,” he said. “I am impartial. I am not employed by any of the funeral homes here. Thus it wouldn’t place a family under stress to tell me they want to use another funeral home.”

Strong, 28, a deputy coroner in Colquitt County since 2002, also stressed the importance of helping families during difficult circumstances. He also has worked in funeral services as a funeral director and embalmer for more than 13 years and has received more than 180 hours of coroner certification training.

“I think it ties in with dealing with grieving people on a daily basis,” he said of his experience as deputy coroner and at Luke Strong and Son Mortuary. “The coroner’s office acts as an investigator. A lot comes not from what the doctor tells you but from what you have seen before. I think experience plays a huge role in being coroner as well as good relationships with the doctors and law enforcement.”

In addition to dealing with death, Strong said he would like to use what he has seen at accident scenes to have the coroner’s office try to prevent unnecessary deaths. Knowing that heart disease is the country’s number one killer, he said, the office also can speak to school students and others on the dangers of obesity and unhealthy lifestyle choices.

“I think the coroner’s office can educate people on those causes of death,” Strong said. “We see a lot of death by accidents, we see a lot of alcohol. I think that’s something we can do (so) we can decrease the number of coroner’s calls per year by education.

“I think we can work through the Colquitt County Board of Education and do some seminars or pass some printed material to students. I think we need to be educating people a little more.”

Strong said that if elected he also would prepare a yearly report for the county detailing the major causes of death that affect residents, and would meet annually with doctors, funeral directors and law enforcement officials to get input into how the office can better serve the community.