LAWRENCE COUNTY Retiring coroner has enjoyed challenge of solving mysteries

The coroner's son will take over the job until the next election or the governor appoints a replacement.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- J. Russell Noga always has liked a little mystery.
That's why the office of Lawrence County coroner seemed to fit so well when he took it over in 1984. But after five terms in office, Noga has decided to step down from the top post effective this week.
Noga, 58, announced his retirement earlier this year when Lawrence County commissioners offered an early-retirement incentive package that will add more time to his years of service, resulting in a higher pension.
"It's a very interesting job. That's probably why I enjoy doing it. It's a challenge. I like investigating with the police departments and conferring with homicide detectives to see if I'm right or wrong," he said.
Those inevitable comparisons to television's "Quincy M.E.," the crime-fighting medical examiner played by Jack Klugman, don't bother Noga too much, but he stresses that coroners never solve their mysteries in an hour -- sometimes it take weeks, months or years.
Some may never be solved, he added. One unsolved case still weighs on his mind, he said.
Still unidentified: About eight years ago hunters found human bones in a set of clothing along Pa. Route 18.
"There was no flesh. The body had been there for better than a year," he said.
They have compared the man's remains to various reports of missing people, but they never quite fit the description. "They would either be too tall or too heavy," Noga said.
Noga speculates the man may have been a transient who hopped off a train and ended up dying of natural causes.
It's hard to determine exactly how the man died because there was no flesh, he said. But there were no broken bones, no sign of gunshot wounds and no poison in his bone marrow, the coroner said.
"His remains were buried under the name John Doe until somebody can come up with some more positive proof," he said.
Personal tragedy: Though Noga's 17 years on the job have presented him with some mysteries, there has also been tragedy.
About a year after taking office, Noga's own son, 17-year-old Christopher John Noga, died in an automobile accident.
Noga said as he looks back at the circumstances of his son's death he believes he was intended to be coroner.
"Something [before the election] told me that I was going to be in a position to talk to others honestly and they would understand that I knew how they were grieving. Without that happening I could only imagine how they would feel when they lose someone tragically," he said.
The job has undergone some changes while Noga has been in office. It became a full-time post in the 1980s and has an annual salary of about $43,000. The coroner's office answers about 450 calls each year.
Family ties: There are three deputy coroners and a chief deputy coroner, which is a post held by Noga's son, Russell S. Noga.
Russell Noga will take over for his father and keep the job until the current term expires in 2003 or until the governor names a replacement.
The younger Noga hopes to carry on the family tradition as coroner.
"I guess I've been doing it long enough as a deputy. I just want to continue on the service that we've provided for the community. It's not something that people like to do, but it's something that needs to be done and I feel I'm the most qualified person to handle it right now," he said.
He is a licensed funeral home director and has completed the educational requirements to be a county coroner. Noga has another son, Joe, who lives in Chicago and is completing his training as an emergency room physician.
The elder Noga notes he's not the first person in the family to act as county coroner.
His father, John J. Noga, now 86, was coroner for about six months in 1975 to fill the unexpired term when Coroner John Meehan resigned.
Howard Reynolds then had the office for the next 13 years until J. Russell Noga won the 1983 election.
Noga said he's leaving his elected office, but he's not leaving the work as a coroner entirely. He plans to serve as chief deputy coroner under his son.
In addition, he will continue his work at the family businesses, Noga Funeral Home, Noga Ambulance and Noga Memorials, he said.
"It's going to be business as usual with the coroner's office with the Noga family. I'm passing the leadership reins to my son. I was 36 years old when I was first elected and he will be 36 years old in April," he said.
cioffi@vindy.com