( KTRS ) Former Madison County Coroner Dallas M. Burke, the first female coroner elected in Illinois, has passed away.

A release by the coroners office say the Burke died Friday at Barnes-Jewish hospital, she was 90.

Burke first became coroner in 1972. At the time her husband was running for the office of Madison County Coroner but died in a heart attack before the election. Mrs. Burke took his spot won the election and served as coroner until she retired in 2000.

She graduated from the Cadet program at the St. Joseph School of Nursing in Alton, and was the school nurse at Western Military Academy in Alton for a short time.