WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
For the first time in at least eight years, St. Joseph County in 2024 experienced fewer than 500 deaths.
The 497 deaths recorded last year were the fewest since 507 registered in 2019, according to Patrick Hansma, from Western Michigan University’s School of Medicine.
Hansma presented the medical examiner’s 2024 report to St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners Tuesday.
For the sake of comparison, there were 511 reported deaths in 2023.
According to Hansma’s report, 371 of those who died in St. Joseph County last year were cremated.
Of the county’s 171 deaths handled by the medical examiner’s office last year, 130 were by natural causes, 30 were accidental and 6 were by suicide. Also, Hansma reported 112 of the 171 deaths handled by his office last year were people 65 years of age or older, while 33 were people between the ages of 45 and 64.
In 2024, 10 people died in a motor-vehicle crash in St. Joseph County, equal to the figures in 2023 and 2022. Meanwhile, 15 accidental deaths were drug-related in 2024, an increase from eight in 2023.
