Stephen A. Decter ’59

Steve died Sept. 5, 2017, of a sudden hemorrhagic stroke.

Born in Newark — he was a lifetime resident of New Jersey — he attended Columbia High School in Maplewood. At Princeton he majored in the Woodrow Wilson School, joined Elm Club, and was secretary of Orange Key. He was a Campus Fund Drive solicitor, a member of Whig-Clio, and co-chairman of ’59’s Class Day. He earned a master’s degree in political science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Serving as an academic administrator and researcher at Rutgers for 31 years, he was committed to making New Jersey a better place. He was involved with preparing studies of state agriculture, the environment and natural-resource use, water and solid-waste management, land-use planning and management, housing and affordable-housing policy, and regional planning and development.

He developed and taught courses in the Rutgers departments of environmental resources, ecology evolution and natural resources, and political science; and served as a consultant to state departments of agriculture, environmental protection, community affairs, and the state Legislature as well as county and municipal governments.

A member of the West Windsor Township Committee from 1983 to 1988, he served as mayor in 1987. His focus was on planning and development and service issues to accommodate a growing population, including the building of a senior center, mixed-use zoning, and a central community park.

Never married, he was predeceased by his brother, Philip.