Any contributor who is or was entitled to retire under the provisions of this act by reason of having completed twenty-five years of total service or by reason of having reached superannuation retirement age, and who shall die while in city service before filing with the retirement board a written application for retirement, as heretofore provided, or has died and whose payments into the fund have not been withdrawn, shall be considered as having elected Option one as provided in section 14 of this act,¹ as of the date of his or her death.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 retirement board. If said beneficiary has predeceased the contributor, payment under Option one shall be made to the legal representative of said contributor.