DeKalb County Coroner's Office

07/10/2025

🩷Choose kindness.🩷

07/05/2025

07/02/2025

🌟CONGRATULATIONS & THANK YOU!🌟

Today we recognized Deputy Coroner Chad Brenneke (on the left) for 5 years of service with our department. Presenting his certificate is Jim Miller, DeKalb County Commissioner.

In addition to his deputy coroner duties, Chad is a seasoned paramedic, farmer, family man, wonderful friend and M*A*S*H enthusiast, not in any particular order. He excels at all.

Chad remains calm, cool and collected in even the most stressful situations. He is kind and empathetic, the type of person who would, without hesitation, give you the shirt off of his back.

Our department, our community, is so very lucky to have Chad!

Thank you, Chad, for all that you do, and thank you Jim for taking the time to present this award.

“We rise by lifting others.” -Robert Ingersoll

06/30/2025

🦸🏼‍♂️🌟THANK YOU LARRY! 🌟🦸🏼‍♂️

Iron Man, Batman, Superman, Larry Lane. What is the commonality? They’re all superheroes, of course.

You haven’t heard of Larry, you say? Well, let us tell you about him. We aren’t sure what his official title is, we just call him “The Fixer,” (but not in the mob sense). Larry is responsible for county building maintenance, grounds keeping and so much more. If you need something, he’s right there to help and always does so with a smile, no matter how busy he is, and he’s always busy.

Last week the AC in our office was out and blowing hot air. We have no windows, we have no fan, we ran out of Diet Coke, but we tried to power through. We thrive in the elements; we wear hooded Tyvek suits that make those shiny silver exercise sweatsuits look like nothing, for gosh sake. But then the hot flashes came (at least for some of us), and we could take no more. We subsequently dialed the Larry Lane Crisis Line, Larry was over if a jiffy and the AC was fixed in no time.

Thank you to Larry and his awesome team for all that they do! Larry has a true servant’s heart and we appreciate him so much.

“Grant me courage to serve others, for in service there is true life.” -Cesar Chavez

06/21/2025

That’s a wrap!

Another ISCA Conference is in the books
and we somehow failed to get a group photo; maybe because many of us holed up in our rooms, stuffing our faces with the candy we hoarded from vendors, as soon as classes came to a close.

But not Chad; Chad avoided all of the candy, focused on salads and was out and about making new friends. That’s how he rolls.

Pictured here with Chad, (Chad is in the snazzy blue shirt), is retired homicide Det. Gil Carrillo. Det. Carrillo helped to bring Richard Ramirez, AKA the serial killer The Night Stalker, to justice.

We are so fortunate to be afforded the opportunity to learn, network and to have some time to decompress (and stuff our faces with snack size candies), because this job is hard in many ways and knowing you’re not alone is everything.

Until next year…

06/20/2025

🇺🇸🏆CONGRATULATIONS! 🏆🇺🇸

Chief Deputy Mike Ge**er has been with the department for 22+ years, having served 2 terms as coroner.

Today, on behalf of the Indiana State Coroners Association, I had the honor of awarding Mike the Jeff Stout Service of Excellence Award, recognizing him as outstanding deputy coroner of the year for the state of Indiana. If you know Mike, you know this award is well deserved.

I am blessed beyond measure to work with the very best people.

Please take a moment to congratulate Mike on this huge honor.

-Jennie

06/13/2025

♥️⛳️THANK YOU!⛳️♥️

Thank you to our wonderful friends at the Garrett Country Club for their very generous donation to our annual ISCA Conference! The proceeds garnered from this Bingo basket will help to promote scholarship funds.

The work we do is largely behind the scenes. What we do is not appropriate conversation for most crowds. We never seek recognition but we do always try our best to recognize others’ good work.

In the last few weeks I’ve reached out for donations for our upcoming event and the positive, generous response has been more than I could have ever hoped for or imagined.

You truly do see us and the quiet work that we do. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your support means the world to us!

With sincere gratitude,
Jennie and the entire team 🩷

06/05/2025

☎️THANK YOU DEKALB COUNTY CENTRAL COMMUNICATIONS!☎️

At first glance some might think this photo was taken within NASA; others might mistakenly believe the setting is instead The Shire (if your focus is on individuals on the right). Either way, you’re wrong. Our friend Brad does not work for NASA and Amanda and Jennie are not, in fact, Hobbits.

Today we visited our friends at DeKalb County Indiana Dispatch, the hub through which all information flows. These folks can multitask like nobody’s business; they are able to remain calm, cool and collected in even the most stressful situations. They also look good in headphones. We appreciate them so much (even when they call at 0300, cough, cough).

Thank you, Dispatch, for the awesome basket you donated for our annual ISCA Conference; proceeds from that basket will go toward scholarships. Thank you for all you do!

“Unsung heroes do not seek recognition, but their impact is undeniable.” -Steven Morris 💚

06/04/2025

🌎 Today is Global Running Day 🌎

You’re probably wondering-what does running have to do with the Coroner’s Office?! Good question!

Mental health, that’s what. We experience so many really tough things in this job; things that leave us emotionally drained and damaged. It would be easy to dwell on, and drown in, all of the bad stuff, so we’ve each found our own way of rising above in order to carry on.

My thing is running with my lifelong friend Troy, and my dog Clover.

Troy and I have run countless miles and countless races together. We’ve run through pain, sleet, snow, extreme heat; he helped me overcome my fear of heights in order to cross a giant bridge in the NYC Marathon. As we run we talk about fun things, hard things-life. We laughed for miles as his festive green, dry rotted shoes (pictured here) made it sound as if he was a not-so-talented Riverdance clogger.

I remember turning to Troy at one point during our very first marathon; I said I don’t think I can finish this. My legs were cramping, it was 80+ degrees, other runners were falling off. Troy turned to me and said “Let’s just click off one mile at a time.” And that’s what we did, and we finished (though we were passed by a man wearing only a loin cloth and no shoes).

Running is my mental health-helper-thing, now you find yours.

💚When this marathon of life gets hard, just remember, you need only click off one day at a time. 💚

-Jennie

06/02/2025

Our department is fortunate to participate in programs that provide grant opportunities. As a result, we’ve received PPE (personal protective equipment), safety vests, cameras flashlights and other items necessary for us to do our jobs safely and efficiently.

This privacy screen is one of our recent grant awards.

We do understand that people are nosy, and we’re not going to deny that we sneak a peek at Nosy Neighbors every one in a while. That being said, those we serve, decedents and their loved ones, deserve privacy and to be treated with dignity and respect; this screen is just another way we can better serve our community.

And while we’re very thankful for each grant item received, we do wonder if this particular screen shipped from Temu as there were no instructions, lots of extra parts and two small bags that we speculate were meant for cold beverage storage.

Pictured here are assemblers extraordinaire, Chief Transport Tech Dave and Sheriff’s Deputy Rick (roped into assembly as the coroner’s spouse). Neither wanted their photos taken (clearly) but an assembly accomplishment such as this deserves photo recognition.

Sometimes it’s okay to be nosy, but above all, be kind, respectful and treat others as you’d like to be treated. And if you need a strange looking cold beverage carrier, we’ve got a couple of extras. 😉