Decades as a reporter and editor for some of the most prestigious newspapers in the United States didn’t dampen Alan Finder’s enthusiasm for the industry or turn him into a cynic. That’s what colleagues noted in paying him tribute after he passed away on March 24 due to COVID-19.

He was remembered by executive editor of The New York Times Dean Baquet as a “generous and patient colleague.”

“He was one of Metro’s stars in the 1980s and 1990s, a big writer in a big, hugely competitive era for New York City news,” Baquet said of Finder’s days on the metropolitan news desk.

Finder spent years at iconic journalistic institutions such as The Record and Newsday before spending 27 years at the Times. In his role as a reporter and editor, he covered New York City government, international news, labor, transportation and more.

Even after his 2011 retirement, Finder worked on the international desk at the Times and served as an editor at the papers that had given him his start, while having more time to enjoy his hobbies, including music, reading and cooking, with his wife, Elaine, and two children, Lauren and Jacob.

More than a talented journalist, Finder was remembered on social media by scores of former colleagues for his kindness and mentorship. The most frequently used term to describe him by those who worked with him was “mensch.” His brother Michael summed up his online tribute, saying “the world will be so much less rich without him.”

Readers are invited to express their condolences or memories of the departed in the Reader Comments box that follows this article.

To provide additional information for this article, or to submit the names and information about other Jewish victims of the coronavirus, please use this form.