Any contributor who is or was entitled to a retirement allowance because of being involuntarily retired after having completed ten years of total service or by reason of having reached superannuation retirement age and who shall die while in county service before filing with the board a written application for retirement, or has died and whose payments into the fund have not been withdrawn, shall be considered as having elected Option One as of the date of his death. In such event, payment under Option One shall be made to the beneficiary designated in the nomination of beneficiary form on file with the board. If the beneficiary has predeceased the contributor, payment under Option One shall be made to the legal representative of the contributor.
16 P.S. § 11668