News - Local

Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Stiglet offers care in dark times

Faced with a tough job, 76-year-old coroner draws on her passion for people

BAY ST. LOUIS — Norma Stiglet says she thought Hancock County officials were crazy when they asked her to serve the last six months of her husband’s final term as county coroner.

It was May 1990 and Stiglet was a retired banker. She had spent the past two years helping her husband, Harold, perform his job while he battled cancer. After his death, she finished his term and ran for the office. She’s been the county’s coroner for 19 years and is midway through her fourth four-year term.

The 76-year-old Bay native has no plans to give up the job any time soon.

“I’ll keep on going as long as I can,” said the petite woman who wears her snow-white hair in a stylish bob cut. “If I sit down and stop too long, I might not get back up. I just don’t want to short-change anybody. If it gets to where I can’t do the job any more, I’ll give it up.”

Professional associates, who consider Stiglet a friend, marvel at her high energy level, her compassion for grieving families and a keen sense of humor.

“She keeps us laughing, but she is very professional and acts appropriately when she’s working with families,” said Edmond Fahey, who runs the only funeral home in the county.

She’s one of the Bay’s most colorful characters, perhaps best described as a spunky steel magnolia.

Stiglet embraces her femininity with a stylish wardrobe, lots of costume jewelry and painted fingernails. She’s prone to call people “darlin’” or “dear” instead of by name. She’s on-call around the clock.

When she’s called to witness the ravages and heartbreak of fatal accidents or homicides, she appears to have nerves of steel.

“You try not to cry out in public,” Stiglet said. “I try to be strong for the families who have lost a loved one. The bad feeling of going to knock on that door to give them the news is a feeling you never get over if you have a heart. You can’t help but hurt for them but you block out the hurt. You just don’t let yourself think about it until you get home.”

Stiglet works out of a small office in her apartment and an office at Edmond Fahey Funeral Home, where she sat down with the Sun Herald for an interview. She kicked off her black high-heel shoes and settled into the comfort of a sofa.

“Working as a banker got me in the habit of dressing up for work,” she said. “I’ve had my heels get stuck in the mud when I’m out at a homicide scene but I just yank them out of the mud and keep going.