Mark Seesing to run for Cape Girardeau County Coroner

Funeral professional Mark Seesing has announced his candidacy to become Cape Girardeau County’s next coroner.

He is running as a Republican.

“This office is in need of an individual capable of handling the job. The last four years have just been a debacle,” he said.

Seesing, a lifelong Cape Girardeau resident, has 28 years of experience in the profession. He is a funeral director and embalmer with McCombs Funeral Home.

“I’ve got probably 4,000 embalmings that I’ve done, everything from days-old babies to 102-year-olds. I’ve been involved in all kinds of investigations with the coroner and law enforcement on the bodies I’ve received. There’s a whole litany of things on the embalming side that I have been involved with that play directly into the coroner’s job,” Seesing said.

As a funeral director, he said his experience dealing with families of the deceased would also help serve him in the coroner role.

Seesing said, if elected, he would like to guide Cape Girardeau County into transitioning from an elected coroner position to an appointed medical examiner, one to oversee death investigations.

“It may not happen, but it’s always good to work to the goal,” Seesing said.

Seesing originally started his career in aviation, serving as the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport’s first full-time manager from 1989 to 1993.

When his best friend and in-laws died in quick succession, he grew familiar with the funerary profession. His wife suggested he’d make a good funeral director, and he later took a job in that field.

“It is a bit of a switch but it’s probably been the best thing for me both personally and professionally that I’ve done,” Seesing said. “I’ve been rewarded so many times with the affections from families that I’ve dealt with, the reward of a job done to the best of my abilities, and it has been a very good, warm feeling to help people through a trying time.”

Seesing has also served as a statewide coordinator for Missouri Funeral Directors and Embalmers Association.

He assisted in identifying victims of the 2011 Joplin tornado and returning their remains to their families.

“Through the decades, my work has given me a valuable understanding of the causes and consequences of death, skills which are crucial to the Coroner’s Office,” Seesing said in a news release. “You can count on me to be a steadfast defender and protector for all those who need the assistance of the Coroner.”