Stanley E. Degler of Arlington, Va. And Hilton Head Island, SC died at age 95 on July 4, 2025, in Arlington, VA. He was born on Dec. 7, 1929, in his Degler grandparents' home in Reading, PA, the son of Elmer and Alma Gable Degler. He was raised in the country in Upper Milford Township, Lehigh County, PA. He graduated from Emmaus High School in the class of 1947. Stan loved having family around him and all things Penn State. He was a voracious reader, history buff, and follower of politics.

He received a B.A. in journalism from Pennsylvania State College in 1951 where he was news editor of the Daily Collegian, and an M.A. from George Washington University in 1957. He worked on newspapers in Allentown, Canonsburg, Donora, and Monongahela, PA. He served in the Marine Corps at Parris Island, SC and Public Information Division at Headquarters Marine Corps.

He was Washington correspondent for the Allentown Call Chronicle, Sunbury Daily Item, and York Gazette and Daily and assistant editor of NADA Magazine before a 33 – year career with The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (BNA), an information services publisher. While there he covered transportation, the Defense Department, and the U.S. Senate. He was the founder of BNA's Environmental Reporter and other publications.

He became executive director of BNA in 1979. He introduced computerization into editorial operations and started BNA's corps of national and international correspondents. He was a member of BNA's board of directors for 11 years and chairman of the subscriptions Pike and Fischer and BNA Washington.

He served on the boards of the Newsletter Publishers Association and the Washington Conservatory of Music. He was editor and publisher of the Washington Water News Service and a columnist for Water and Wastes Engineering Magazine and a books reviewer for the Journal of the Modern Technology Society. He was the author or editor of four BNA books.

After retirement from BNA in 1990 as senior vice president for planning and development, he founded Stanley E. Degler Associates, Inc., creator of special projects for unemployed associates. Then he became a full-time volunteer at Taylor Elementary School in Arlington, Va., where he served for 21 years and during summer sessions at Barrett, Key, McKinley, Jamestown, Science Focus, and Arlington Traditional School. He was named an honored citizen by the Arlington School Board in 1999.

He is the donor of scholarships at Penn State, Kutztown State University in honor of his mother, Goucher College in honor of his late wife, and the Gable family scholarships. He was president of the Ashlawn Elementary School PTA for two years. He was a member of the National Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, Phi Eta Sigma, the freshman men's honorary scholastic fraternity, Pi Gamma Mu, the honorary social services fraternity, and Alpha Phi Omega, the Boy Scout college service fraternity, and the Order of the Arrow.

His marriage to Ellen Sperber Degler ended in divorce. His marriage to Sandra Collier Degler of 34 years ended with her death in 2008.

He is survived by his wife of 14 years, Ann Hope Degler; a sister, Jean Nagle of Lebanon, PA: daughters Gail (John Dao) Regina of Chevy Chase, MD, and Victoria Arthur of Volcano, HI, a son, Andrew (Karen) Degler of Middletown, DE, stepchildren Jeffrey Bloom of Berkley Springs, WV. and Margaret (Kim Hite) Bloom of Fairfield, PA; his grandchildren, Jesse (Tracy) Arthur of Mountain View, HI, Jacob (Aubrey) Rickle-Degler of Dayton, OH, Emily (Jair) Santamaria of Harrington, DE, his great grandchildren, Lailee and Josiah Santamaria of Harrington, DE, and Charlotte Degler of Dayton, OH; and his wife's children, Ruth Ellen (Woody) Outlaw of Charlottesville, VA, and David (Heidi Lux) Spurgin of Ithaca, NY; his wife's grandchildren, Esther Outlaw of Charlottesville, VA, Pearl Outlaw of Portland, OR, and Frances and Henry Lux of Ithaca, NY. His granddaughter, Lillian (Luke Durgin) Regina of Colorado predeceased him. The family would like to thank Stan's caregivers, who made it possible for him to age safely and comfortably at home, who were Eden Tsegay, as well as caregivers from Nurturecare, especially Emelia Neizer and Maimunatu Bah.

A memorial service will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 9, 2025, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, 4444 Arlington Blvd, Arlington, VA 22204. Interment will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday, August 10, 2025, at Chestnut Hill Church Cemetery, 6870 Chestnut Hill Church Road, Coopersburg, Pa. 18036. If driving to the cemetery, please note this is the mailing address for the cemetery; it's located near the village of Limeport and outside the town of Limeport in Lower Milford Township, part of a rural area with a Coopersburg address, 6899-6859 State Route 2033. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington or to the Penn State College of Communications, 201 Carnegie Building, State College, PA 16803, attn. Marie Hardin.

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Published by The Washington Post on Aug. 3, 2025.

Memories and Condolences
for Stanley Degler

3 Entries

Kathleen Gill Mundle

August 10, 2025

August 9, 2025

To Stan´s Family and Friends,

I had hoped to attend Stan´s memorial service, but was unable to get to DC to be with you. I have been thinking about you and Stan quite a lot, especially his children Gail, Victoria, and Andrew, and step children Jeff Bloom and Margaret Bloom, all of whom I knew from when they were just kids. (Margaret, you will always be Missy to me.)

I would liked to have told you in person how deeply I cared for Stan and how much I respected him, but here it is for the record:

Stan hired me at BNA when I was a young woman new to Washington and desperate for a job as a journalist. That was in 1970, when women were just beginning their struggle to be heard. At some point after numerous interviews with men who would hire me only as a typist, I stopped acknowledging that I could type any better than the men who had the job I wanted.

Stan stood alone; he hired me as a junior editor in the company that would become my workplace for the rest of my career. It dawned on me during the interview that he was considering me for a "real job" and I knew that reporters had to be able to type. When he asked if I could, I quickly made up a number of words per minute that I thought would get me hired but wasn´t good enough to relegate me to the typing pool.

It worked, and Stan became my boss, mentor, and friend.

He gave the people who worked for him the opportunity to work in an environment where we could flourish if we chose. He (along with then-Sandy Collier Bloom) taught me the ropes. He was a mentor as I moved through the corporate ranks, even as I left his division to go in a different direction. He was both serious and funny. He knew how to have a good time and how to let his staff have a good time.

There is much more to Stan Degler than what I have described, but this is the essence of my affection for him as boss, mentor, and friend. He was a good and generous man who would give a person a chance and back them up when they took it.

Kathy Gill (Kathleen Mundle these days)

August 9, 2025

August 9, 2025

To Stan´s Family and Friends,

I had hoped to attend Stan´s memorial service, but was unable to get to DC to be with you. I have been thinking about you and Stan quite a lot, especially his children Gail, Victoria, and Andrew, and step children Jeff Bloom and Margaret Bloom, all of whom I knew from when they were just kids. (Margaret, you will always be Missy to me.)

I would liked to have told you in person how deeply I cared for Stan and how much I respected him, but here it is for the record:

Stan hired me at BNA when I was a young woman new to Washington and desperate for a job as a journalist. That was in 1970, when women were just beginning their struggle to be heard. At some point after numerous interviews with men who would hire me only as a typist, I stopped acknowledging that I could type any better than the men who had the job I wanted.

Stan stood alone; he hired me as a junior editor in the company that would become my workplace for the rest of my career. It dawned on me during the interview that he was considering me for a "real job" and I knew that reporters had to be able to type. When he asked if I could, I quickly made up a number of words per minute that I thought would get me hired but wasn´t good enough to relegate me to the typing pool.

It worked, and Stan became my boss, mentor, and friend.

He gave the people who worked for him the opportunity to work in an environment where we could flourish if we chose. He (along with then-Sandy Collier Bloom) taught me the ropes. He was a mentor as I moved through the corporate ranks, even as I left his division to go in a different direction. He was both serious and funny. He knew how to have a good time and how to let his staff have a good time. He hired based on merit.

There is much more to Stan Degler than what I have described, but this is the essence of my affection for him as boss, mentor, and friend. He was a good and generous man who would give a person a chance and back them up when they took it.