A second person has died from a Friday lightning strike at Spring Grove Cemetery, records from the Hamilton County Coroner show.
Patricia Herlinger, a 31-year-veteran employee of the City of Cincinnati, died yesterday due to injuries she sustained when she was struck by lightning about 5 p.m. Aug. 30 at the landmark Cincinnati cemetery. She was 55.
Herlinger worked at Greater Cincinnati Water Works, the Metropolitan Sewer District and, most recently, as the City of Cincinnati Occupational Safety & Health Coordinator in risk management.
"Patty touched the lives of so many friends and coworkers in every department, but none as much as her partner Brian, a current MSD employee, and her sister Jennifer, an employee of the Cincinnati Health Department," Cincinnati City Manager Patrick Duhaney wrote in an email to city employees. "Patty is also survived by her mother Cindy, a retired City employee, as well as her other siblings, nieces, and nephews."
Another woman also struck that day, Green Township's Danielle Brosious, 27, died shortly after she was hit, officials say. A third woman also sustained serious injuries.
Brosius graduated from Northern Kentucky University and received a master's degree in kinesiology from Eastern Illinois University.
According to the National Weather Service, there are an average of 43 reported lightning fatalities per year in the United States. Brosius was the 14th lightning fatality in 2019, according to the NWS. Herlinger was likely the 15th.
