Thomas Yanac Jr. defeats longtime incumbent for Monroe County Coroner’s post

Funeral Director Thomas Yanac Jr. of Mount Pocono has defeated Robert Allen by an almost 2-to-1 vote for coroner in Monroe County.

Allen, who served as coroner for more than 20 years, has been embroiled in controversy since the primary. Allen; his wife, Tracey, who serves as office manager; and the county commissioners have been named in two lawsuits stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct, theft and other unprofessional behaviors by two employees of the coroner’s office.

Yanac ran against Allen in 2013, but was defeated.

One of the issues Yanac ran his campaign on was to change the way employees at the coroner’s office are hired and making greater use of the county’s human resources office then has been used in the past. Yanac says he wants to end the practice of “friends and family” being employed by the coroner’s office.

Yanac is a graduate of Luzerne and Northampton Community Colleges with a degree in funeral education and is the funeral director at Yanac Funeral Home, which he started in 2014.