Though his job as coroner is to determine the cause and manner of someone’s death, Glenn Boyd knows he has just as much responsibility to the living as the dead.

He knows some people are meeting him at a difficult time. “It most likely is one of the worst days of their lives,” he said. It’s a responsibility he takes to heart.

Coroners are charged with giving dignity and respect to those who have died, with investigating their deaths. It also means helping the living.

His job is to document,...