March 13, 1940 - April 15, 2026

A life of Service to GOD, his COUNTRY, FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Jim was born at All Souls Hospital in Morristown and was raised in Basking Ridge by his parents Caroline and John DeCoste, the middle child of 5 boys. His parents moved to Basking Ridge in the 1930’s and called Basking Ridge their home and it is here that Jim spent his childhood. Jim is a 1958 graduate of Bernards High School where he enjoyed football and track and later enthusiastically worked on the reunion committee for many years.

He enlisted in the Army and served as a paratrooper in the 82 nd Airborne from 1958-1961 rising to the rank of SP4/E4. He cross trained with special forces, and was deployed to Panama.

His service to his family, friends and the community spanned his entire life and was his whole life. Service to others was who he was. You could not separate this from the man. Always loyal and helpful to everyone, he made everyone his friend. In fact, the only people who were not his friends were people he had not yet met.

His loyalty to his country was unwavering. He was proud to tell stories of his training and deployments and the adventures that he experienced. He would often slyly say that as a paratrooper he jumped out of a perfectly good airplane.

On his behalf, we would like to thank all military personnel for your service.

After being discharged from the Army he joined the Basking Ridge police department as a Special Police Officer. His next job was with Somerset Hills National Bank. He spent a few years as a Real Estate Agent with Carlin Realtors in Basking Ridge before joining AT&T and held multiple Environmental Management positions before retiring after 25 years.

Jim was the Commander of American Legion Neil-Card Post #114 for many, many years. In this capacity he served as the Memorial Day Master of Ceremonies for the Basking Ridge Memorial parade for an amazing 37 years. This event was a major moment for him each year as he celebrated with the community the great sacrifice of our military personnel as we remembered them each year.

He believed that it was the greatest honor for him to help the community recognize and celebrate the sacrifices of our armed service personnel.

He remembered fondly his time with the local Kiwanis club, helping with the annual Kiwanis fair in Basking Ridge for many years.

At 86 years old, he was the longest living continuous member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Basking Ridge. He served as a senior warden on the church vestry, taught Sunday school, and loved to help with the biannual church rummage sale, (a favorite of his) as more than anything he loved to share stories, information and a laugh with people.

Jim joined the Basking Ridge Fire Company as a young man and was an active life member. He previously served as the Fire and the First Aid Captain and selflessly answered the calls for service no matter the time or day and regularly attended monthly meetings. He recently received honors for his 61 years of service to this volunteer organization in recognition of his dedication to always helping others in need. We thank all first responders for their dedication and selfless service.

His love for his family was unwavering. Stories of the past were a comfort to him and with family he was at his best storytelling. He generously passed these stories onto his children and more recently his grandchildren whom he loved with all his heart.

He is survived by his wife (of 61 years) Carol and together they celebrated their 61 st anniversary in October, daughter Bernadette and husband Jim, and grandchildren Caroline and Thomas, his son James II and his wife Judy, daughter Gretchen, brother Paul and many more relatives both near and far who loved him dearly.

He handled his setbacks with hope and determination and always rose above the trials in life with endless optimism and perseverance. It is this memory that we will take with us every day.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jim’s honor to the Basking Ridge Fire Company No. 1 (brfco.com), St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (stmarksbr.org) or the American Legion (legion.org).

A Celebration of Life Memorial Service with military honors will be held at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 140 S. Finley Ave, Basking Ridge on Saturday, May 9, 2026 at 11:00 am with a repast to follow at the church.