EDMONTON, Ky. — Tom Emberton, as soon as a Republican candidate for Kentucky governor and later chief decide of the state Court docket of Appeals, died Thursday in a home fireplace, officers stated.
The fireplace was found round 3:30 a.m., Metcalfe County Coroner Larry Wilson stated. Emberton helped get his spouse away from the house however then he went again inside and didn’t make it out, Wilson stated. Emberton was in his late 80s.
Kentucky Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. introduced Emberton’s loss of life throughout his State of the Judiciary, spokesperson Leigh Anne Hiatt stated.
Edmonton Mayor Doug Smith stated the fireplace was unintentional.
“Tom heroically made sure his spouse Julia made it to security however misplaced his life throughout his effort to save lots of their house,” Smith stated in an announcement to WBKO-TV in Bowling Inexperienced.
Emberton, a lawyer from Metcalfe County, ran for governor in 1971 and was appointed to the Court docket of Appeals in 1987. He was reelected twice and likewise served as chief decide of the appellate courtroom till he retired in 2004, U.S. Senate Republican chief Mitch McConnell stated.
“Tom gave me one in every of my earliest experiences within the tough and tumble actuality of political campaigning, hiring me to work on his 1971 gubernatorial marketing campaign,” McConnell stated in an announcement. “He taught me useful classes on public service and operating as a statewide Republican in Kentucky. ”
Emberton can also be survived by his kids, Laura Emberton Owens and Tom Emberton Jr.
