Stanley Thomas "Stan" DeCoster

7/4/1943 - 12/23/2023

Salem - Stanley Thomas DeCoster, 80, of Salem, a respected, highly decorated news reporter and editor at The Day over a career spanning nearly 35 years, died at Windham Hospital Saturday evening after a lengthy illness.

DeCoster began his long and distinguished career at The Day in 1967, after graduating from Northeastern University in Boston, where he worked at The Boston Globe as part of the school's cooperative program. He held many important positions at The Day, including state Capitol bureau chief, New London City Hall reporter, night city editor, assistant managing editor, and investigative and projects reporter before his retirement in 2001. Despite his affable persona, DeCoster was a fair, but relentless, hard-hitting reporter who excelled at investigative work and won numerous writing and reporting awards from state, regional and national journalism organizations. "When I think of Stan, I think of what a terrific reporter he was," said Reid MacCluggage, editor and publisher of The Day from 1984 to 2001. "He was unassuming in a Columbo sort of way that put subjects at ease and often made them say more than they intended. He had a great reporter's gift of getting people to talk. The Day was lucky to have him for so many years."

DeCoster also had an eye for talent. Izaskun Larrañeta, The Day's executive editor, whom DeCoster identified early in her reporting career as a gifted journalist, worked with him in the mid-1990s on the case of a troubled Mystic woman, Jancis Fuller, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for firing four shots in the middle of the night into the home of then-Superior Court Judge Robert Leuba. "It was a wonderful learning experience," Larrañeta recalled. "We sifted through court records and interviewed lawyers and other defendants. He was a master interviewer. His eye would glisten when he asked a good question. He loved to talk to people." In 1981, DeCoster and fellow staff writer Ann Baldelli received national and state awards for their investigative stories about the politically driven awarding of lucrative cable television franchises in Connecticut. Their series, "Channels of Influence," was honored by, among others, the prestigious University of Missouri and Columbia School of Journalism, UCLA Graduate School of Management (Gerald Loeb Awards), and Greater Hartford Chamber of Commerce. "Stan was my colleague, editor, mentor and friend for 24 years," Baldelli said. "I worked as a reporter and he was my editor, and I worked alongside him on special projects and investigations. Stan was exceptional at the craft. He was an old-school journalist who taught me that perseverance, patience, and hard work paid off. He was incredibly kind to his colleagues and to the people he reported on and wrote about."

DeCoster was widely respected for his thoroughness and strong work ethic. He encouraged and mentored younger reporters, especially in his editor's roles and was always among the first to welcome new staff members to The Day's newsroom. Any reporter's work was better for DeCoster having edited it for punctuation, grammar, style and content. "Whether in his daily contacts with everyday people or his determination to make sure people knew the truth about politics, Stan acted with determination," recalled retired Editorial Page Editor Morgan McGinley, who worked side by side with DeCoster for many years as a reporter. "He was earnest yet kind, especially to the young reporters." Greg Stone, another long-time colleague at The Day, recalled DeCoster's investigative reporting began in the early stages of his career when New London was undergoing a massive, federally driven transformation. "He was a gifted investigative reporter," said Stone, who preceded DeCoster as The Day's Capitol bureau chief. "He was among three of us who took part in The Day's early foray into investigative journalism in the early 1970s into improprieties in the New London Model Cities program and carried on that important kind of work for three decades."

DeCoster was born July 4, 1943, in Needham, Mass., the younger of two children of Ellwood and Elizabeth (Foss) DeCoster. He graduated from Medfield High School, where he played on the basketball team. After graduating from high school, he served in the National Guard and was accepted to Northeastern, from which he graduated earlier in 1967. On Sept. 14, 1968, he married Kathleen Ann "Kacky" Briggs, who survives him. They have two children, Keri, of Salem, and Paul, of Uncasville, as well as Paul's wife, Nicole (Levis) DeCoster, and their two children, Sadie and Cameron, whom DeCoster described as "the apples of my eye."

An avid Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots fan, DeCoster coached his son's Little League and Babe Ruth baseball teams. DeCoster was an avid golfer, enjoying hundreds of rounds over the years with Day colleagues, Moe Clark, Bob Laux-Bachand, Bill Stanley, Tom Farragher, Judd Sparling, Brian Mitchell, Bill Hanrahan, outside friend, Bull Durham, and the late Mike Ahern, Dave Carlson and Ed Funk. The friends golfed at local courses and played in Cape Cod, Myrtle Beach and, one year, Lake Morey, Vt. He had English setters through his adult life, from his first, Pepper, to most recent rescue, Jake. After decades of futility, DeCoster happily celebrated with legions of other fans the New England Patriots' six Super Bowl wins and the Boston Red Sox's four World Series championships since 2000.

There are no services planned. Instead, the family will host a celebration of DeCoster's life with more details to follow. In lieu of flowers, please make a gift in his memory to Center for Hospice Care, 227 Dunham St., Norwich, CT 06360.