Meet Cori McKean

Cori McKean’s story begins on a small family farm in Ellensburg, where early mornings, hard work, and helping neighbors were simply part of life. Growing up in Manastash 4‑H, Ellensburg FFA, Thorp FBLA, and serving as a Washington State Girls Representative shaped her sense of leadership and community responsibility. Today, she keeps those roots strong by leading the Trailblazers 4‑H Club, volunteering with Friends of the Kittitas County Fair, serving as a 4‑H Dog Superintendent, and staying active with Ellensburg Noon Rotary.

After high school, Cori became a dispatcher for the Ellensburg Police Department, beginning more than 35 years of service to Kittitas County. She married Michael McKean, and together they welcomed their son, Tommy. When motherhood arrived later in life, she sought a way to continue serving without the strain of overnight shifts. In 2019, she transitioned from her “first” first‑responder role at KITTCOM to the “last” first‑responder role in the Coroner’s Office. Recruited by Coroner Nick Henderson, she stepped into a position that brought her full circle—from being the first voice in a crisis to the final guardian of dignity, accuracy, and truth.

Cori learned the Coroner’s Office from the ground up, earning both state and national medicolegal death‑investigation certifications. She has handled daily operations, managed records and reporting, supported grieving families, coordinated with law enforcement and medical partners, and responded to scenes as a certified investigator. She has supervised staff, trained new deputies, written policies, secured grants, helped the office achieve full accreditation, and certified cause and manner of death. By the time she became Coroner, she had already been doing the work piece by piece for years.

Securing grant funding and guiding the office through full accreditation ensured the Coroner’s Office meets the highest standards for accuracy, safety, and transparency—giving families confidence that every case is handled with consistent, professional care.

Now, under her leadership, the focus is on practical progress that strengthens service to local families. She has launched new family‑support and community‑outreach efforts, created an investigator peer‑support program, and expanded collaboration with the Health Department to support prevention work.

Cori believes families deserve to know their loved one is treated with dignity. She chooses to be present in the autopsy suite because families cannot be, standing in their place with compassion and respect. Every case represents a life, a story, and the people who loved them, and she carries that truth with her in every decision.

Her work is grounded in the values she was raised with—respect for families, doing things the right way, and earning trust through honesty and steady service. Her leadership keeps the office grounded, supports her team through difficult moments, and reassures the community that its most sensitive matters are handled with care.

Steady, trusted, and deeply rooted in Kittitas County, Cori brings proven experience to one of the county’s most delicate roles. Her path—from farm kid to dispatcher to medicolegal professional—reflects a lifetime of showing up for the people who call this valley home. Every day, she brings demonstrated competence and a neighbor’s heart to the work.