Beverly G. DeCoster died on March 29, 2025, in Brunswick, Maine.

(The following was provided by the Dayton Daily News on April 9, 2025:)

Beverly Sue DeCoster

Beverly Sue DeCoster, age 67, passed away on March 29, 2025. Born in Honolulu, Bev grew up in Dayton. She graduated from Belmont High School in 1976 and the University of Dayton in 1980 with a BS in chemistry. Bev taught in Bowdoin College’s chemistry laboratories for more than thirty years. Bev loved her family and the outdoors, especially our national and state parks. For decades she led trips across the US and Canada with her family and friends. In the lab, Bev was generous with her time and her laughter was constant, brightening the late nights working alongside her best students.

Bev loved her family and the outdoors, especially our national parks and state parks. For decades she led trips across the US and Canada with family and friends. We spent so many nights together building campfires and looking across the dark skies for shooting stars. We walked tens of thousands of miles together along beaches, through forests, and over mountains. Bev was the first in her family to graduate from college and many would follow. In the lab Bev was generous with her time and her laughter was constant, brightening the late nights working alongside her best students. She nurtured the patience and insight to explain even the most complex mathematical and chemical problems in just minutes and she always had the biggest smile when she was sure you caught on. Bev will be remembered for the hours and years we spent together, her inspiring spirit, kindness, hard work and everything she taught us.

She is survived by her son, Jordan DeCoster, brothers, Mark and Paul Gantner, cousins Greg and Darold Gantner, Sandee Treptow, and Kari Ellis, nieces Sabrina and Megan Gantner, nephews Tim, Josh, and Bob Gantner, aunts Dorothy and Saundra Gantner and Patty Hildebrand, and many more family, friends, and thousands of students. She was preceded in death by her mother and father, Joan (Hildebrand) and Robert Gantner.