30-01-2025
Berks coroner announces reelection campaign
John Fielding has announced he will seek a second term in office.
The Mount Penn Republican has served as Berks County's coroner since 2021. He is the first candidate to officially announce a run for the office in 2025.
'I'm grateful for the opportunity voters gave me four years ago to smooth over some of the bumps in the office and return it to responsible management,' he said. 'And I would appreciate the consideration for another four years.'
The coroner investigates deaths independent of the police. The office also rules on the cause and manner of sudden, unexplained or unnatural deaths, as well as natural deaths that occur outside the presence of medical officials.
Fielding said that during his first term he has focused on the importance of the administration of the office.
He pointed out that while the coroner makes the final determination on the cause and manner of deaths independent of the police, the person in that position must rely on others such as deputy coroners and forensic pathologists to gather all the evidence.
John Fielding
Once that process is complete, he said, the coroner can come to an educated conclusion.
'I like the detective nature of what I do,' he said. 'We have to do a fair amount of investigation on some death cases. We have to figure out who these people are, the cause of their death and the manner of their death and that requires detective work.'
In addition to an emphasis on administrative competence, Fielding said he has also worked on improving interpersonal relationships among those who work in the office.
'I really let my team here do what they do without constantly looking over their shoulder,' he said. 'I give them the freedom to do what works for them while making sure we have the information that we need according to law. So we have come up with policies that reflect that kind of approach.'
Fielding said that if elected to a second term he would continue to operate the office in much the same way.
He said he would also continue to focus on identifying unknown remains and laying unclaimed remains to rest, some of which were sitting on shelves in storage rooms of the coroner's office for decades.
'We have made some progress over the last several years, but there are still about 100 remains that are still here,' he said.
One of those cases even received national attention. The case involved the remains of a man whose frozen body was found in 1977 in a cave along the Appalachian Trail in northern Berks.
Attempts were made to identify him through fingerprints at the time. The body went unclaimed, and the remains were eventually buried in the county-owned legacy cemetery known as Potter's Field.
In 2019, under then-Coroner Dennis Hess, the coroner's office had the body exhumed from Potter's Field so DNA could be extracted from the bones.
A recent breakthrough, however, led to the unraveling of the nearly half-century mystery in a matter of an hour. Last August, Fielding led a press conference to announce 'Pinnacle Man's' identity: Nicolas P. Grubb, 27, of Fort Washington, Montgomery County.
Fielding said his office would like to deliver more good news like that. To make that happen he has been listing information about remains they have identified on the office's website and has someone working on a part-time basis researching relatives.
The county coroner serves a four-year term and currently receives an annual salary of $101,694.
The primary is May 20.
Meet the candidate
Candidate: John Fielding, 71, Mount Penn.
Position sought: Berks County coroner.
Background: Fielding has served as coroner since 2021. Prior to winning election, he was a private practice attorney. He had also served as a member of Mount Penn Borough Council and Antietam School Board.
