Donald A. Drynan; Former Assistant County Coroner

Donald A. Drynan, retired Los Angeles County assistant coroner who was instrumental in putting his department’s employees in uniform and developing state-of-the-art computerized facilities, has died. He was 72.

Drynan, who lived in La Mirada, died Friday of a heart attack during a shopping trip to a Whittier mall, his daughter Donna Funderberg Drynan said Monday.

He had undergone double bypass heart surgery in 1982 and a triple bypass in 1992.

Drynan retired in 1977 after 29 years with the coroner’s office, rising from embalmer to assistant to then-Coroner Thomas Noguchi.

As an administrator, Drynan worked to obtain uniforms for the office, giving employees their own identity; lobbied in Sacramento for greater authority for paramedics, and helped to move the department from small offices in the basement of the Hall of Justice to its new facility.

He also helped oversee installation of a computer system that catalogues causes of death in different geographic areas of the county.

“We try to help the living through the study of death,” he said.

A native of Sterling, Ill., Drynan served in the Army Air Corps during World War II.

His wife of 35 years, Marie, died in 1979, and two daughters, Linda and Peggy, also are deceased.

Drynan is survived by two daughters, Donna and Denise, three grandsons and his companion of many years, Janet McKane of Lawndale.

Graveside services are scheduled at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Rose Hills, Whittier. The family has asked that memorial contributions be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.